House of Hades Re-Run
by ArtemisApollo97
Summary: Continuation of my rewrite project! Having a magical connection with a twin brother is all fun and games until the bastard falls into Tartarus doing his stupid hero thing. Now stuck with a bunch of other idiots and a sarcastic cousin, Louisa has to somehow survive the journey to Eprius without committing suicide. Or homicide. Depends on which comes first. She's not picky
1. Chapter 1

"THAT IS THE THIRD MAST THIS WEEK, DO YOU THINK THEY GROW ON TREES?"

"Um, Leo, masts _are _trees."

"NOT NOW, NICO, I'M YELLING AT MOUNTAINS!" Leo made some rude hand gestures at the mountain gods, yelping and ducking suddenly as a boulder sailed over his head. "I WILL MAKE YOU EAT THAT BOULDER!" He yelled from behind the railings. Someone sighed to Nico's left.

"He's gonna get himself killed." Louisa shook her head. Nico folded his arms, making bemused, indecisive noises.

"You never know, it might be an improvement." He shrugged. Louisa half-smiled. She moved to the railings, next to Hazel. She was deflecting boulders as best she could, but the top half of the mast had vanished, leaving a splintered stump behind.

"Hi." Hazel nodded, swiping a rock from the air. Louisa looked at the next one, coming straight at her. It cracked down the middle, drastically slowing in seconds. The halves rolled indecisively. She flicked her fingers and they hurtled backwards. "They just keep coming." Hazel sighed. "And I think Leo's going to explode."

"DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK TO MAKE THIS SHIP? YOU, SIR, _YOU_ WILL BE MY NEXT MAST!"

"And I _think_ he's been hanging around you too much."

"Ya say that like it's a bad thing." Louisa looked down at the mountains. Hazel deflected more boulders. "Help me bring it down."

"What?" Hazel turned. Louisa pointed to the top of the nearest mountain.

"If we destroy their mountain, they'll flap about that for a minute. Gives us some time to get out of here." She looked at Hazel, her eyes bleak and shadowed. Hazel wasn't sure if she could be of any help, not from this distance, but she didn't want to say that out loud. Louisa took her silence, facing the mountains again. She raised her hands, closing her eyes. A rumbling emitted from somewhere in the range. The mountain gods stopped throwing just for a moment. Hazel focused on the peak opposite her, also holding up her hands.

The rumbling grew louder. The gods dropped their boulders, scrambling and yelling warnings at each other. Hazel swept her hands behind her and the peaks exploded. Chunks ricocheted in dozens of directions, one smacked a god in the face and he roared. Louisa clenched her fists. Leo stopped shouting- he could _see_ the mountains shaking. The rumbling was near deafening now, large cracks spider-webbing through the range.

"Leo!" Nico called. "Get us out of here!"

"Right, right! I'm on it!"

"Wait!" Hazel cried.

"What is it?" Leo froze. "Am I going or not?"

"No, look! It's Arion!" Hazel pointed. "Arion!" _Arion!_ She called mentally. With a _boom_, he appeared on the deck, his coat steaming. He skittered, tossed his mane.

"He don't like the ancient lands." Louisa translated blandly. She dropped her hands, half-slumping, half-leaning on the rail. "He wants ya ta go with him."

"Where?" Hazel asked the horse. He whickered, nuzzled her face.

"Just go, it's important." Louisa surveyed the range. The gods were hurrying to stabilise their homes. Some were trying to rebuild broken peaks. Some were desperately patching up cracks with more rocks. Hazel climbed on Arion's back and the horse was off. Louisa stared at the spot he had vanished. "I don't like that horse."

"Why?" Leo asked. "He's cool! Eats gold."

"Swears more than me."

"That's possible?"

"Shut up, di Angelo." She frowned at her cousin. "Go 'n' get cake."

"But-"

"_Cake_." She stressed. Nico pressed his lips together. Leo glanced from one to the other. Nico di Angelo terrified him- _he_ was what Leo would have considered a child of the Underworld. He had this _aura_ about him, one Hazel didn't, like he radiated darkness and misfortune. Not something Leo necessarily needed right about now, but it was there. But he _had_ noticed that Nico seemed to… come alive, just a fraction, when Louisa was about. If it wasn't for her, his diet over the last few days would have consisted of one, maybe two grapes. Some colour was coming back to his cheeks, but he was still thin and sleepless.

Leo looked to Louisa. She was watching the range again, leaning heavily on the rails. She was pale, almost deflated in a way, but her eyes still simmered with determination. She looked back round when she realised Nico was still there. Even in her state, Nico wouldn't take her on. He winced and took his leave.

"You OK?" He asked once Nico's footsteps had retreated. She nodded vaguely. Shouting caught their ears- the mountain gods were readying another attack. Louisa forced herself to stand straight, exhaling slowly. She lifted her left hand, the rumbling began again. Hastily patched cracks reappeared, the caps tumbled. They scrambled again, wailing. Leo twisted his hands. "Where do you think Arion took Hazel?"

"Nowhere good. He said somethin' about her bein' summoned."

"Summoned? By who?"

"Dunno." She dropped her hand and things quietened. "She'd better hurry up." Leo nodded, picking at his lip. She dragged the back of her hand across her forehead, huffing.

"You need to-" Leo began.

"I'm fine."

"But-"

"Please, Leo. I… I can't sit 'n' do nothin'." He wanted to protest, but something in her tone silenced him. They suspected she was picking up on Percy, but no one dared to ask her about it.

* * *

For the next fifteen or so minutes, Louisa kept annoying the mountain gods. They hadn't thrown anything more, trying to keep their homes together. She sat on the floor, her legs hanging over the edge of the boat, leaning on the low railings. A thin layer of perspiration coated her face, her cheeks were pink, brow furrowed. There was a distant boom and a golden form streaked around the mountains. Arion appeared on the deck, bucking.

"Easy, Arion, easy!" Hazel assured, wrapping her arms around his neck. Louisa whistled without looking round and Arion's front hooves hit the floor with loud, annoyed thumps. He whickered at the back of her head, snorting.

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice." Louisa said distractedly. Hazel dismounted. Arion snuffled her hair and took off. "You OK?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Not really." Hazel explained how Arion had taken her to a crossroads engulfed in Mist. She had met Hecate, who offered Hazel three gates. Upon hearing about the image of Percy and Annabeth lying on the floor with a large shadowy form looming over them, Louisa looked round. She focused on Hazel with such an intensity, Hazel faltered, mind going blank.

"Hazel," Leo prompted, "keep going."

"H-Hecate promised she would obscure our path. But… but I have to learn how to use the Mist." She looked to Louisa. "She said that you had some knowledge on how to do it." Louisa took a breath, facing forward. She sat up a little straighter.

"I can… only do little things. Confuse mortals so they don't remember seein' me or somethin'." She shook her head. "I know Hecate, I know what she wants ya ta do. I can't use the Mist to that scale, but I can at least give ya a head start."

"Thanks, Lou." Hazel tried to bite down a tide of panic. Louisa stared at her again.

"Ya sure you're OK?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Hecate _may_ have also mentioned she helped my mom find the spell to summon my dad _and_ I was born because of that spell _and_ had this _wonderful_ curse put upon me that Gaia later used to her advantage _and then_ it also got me and Mom killed _and now_ I'm on another quest to stop Gaia _again_. No big deal." She shrugged. They were both staring at her, more questions than answers. Hazel smiled grimly. "She also gave us a path- it's a massive detour, Hecate said Gaia wouldn't expect us to take it. She said there is a secret pass in the north of the Apennines. Once through, we have to travel north to Bologna and then to Venice. From there, we sail the Adriatic to get to Epirus." Leo tapped at his console, wincing.

"That's… something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to Venice. What if it's a trap?"

"If it was a trap, I think Hecate would've had made the northern route sound tempting."

"We have ta take it." Louisa chipped in. "It's our best chance."

"But it sucks." Leo pulled a face.

"This all sucks, Valdez. Just take the least sucky one 'n' deal."

"Ugh, fine." He looked back at Hazel. "You said something about baloney dwarfs, right?"

"Dwarfs in Bologna. I'm not sure why we need to find them, but Hecate said we had to, to find some sort of… treasure that would help with the quest."

"I do like treasure." Leo mused. Hazel sighed. She couldn't get the images of Clytius, of Percy and Annabeth, of herself caught in a glowing maze of light out of her mind. Her hands shook.

"I'm going to go and check on Nico." She said quickly. "I'll send the others up to help watch." She looked at Louisa. "_You_ need to get some rest." Louisa leaned her head on the rail. The metal was cool relief against her skin, but it wasn't enough. Percy travelling to and being in Alaska had been annoying enough. She couldn't _wait_ to feel all the joys of Tartarus.

"Lou?" That was Piper. She opened her eyes. The mountain range was gone. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. Louisa blinked, raising her head. Her neck was stiff, made her wince. Her arms were folded on the railing, her sleeve a little damp from where she had been drooling.

Piper smiled at her, smoothing her hair back from her forehead. Her smile wilted slightly and she put her hand to Louisa's forehead. "You're really burning up."

"I noticed." Louisa croaked.

"And you're all gross and sweaty." She flicked her hand, wrinkling her nose.

"I noticed."

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up and to bed." Piper crouched, tucking her hands under Louisa's upper arms. She gradually pulled her to her feet. Louisa wobbled. Piper held onto her arm. "Nico ate a _whole_ cake, I think you've scared him."

"Good. The kid needed fattenin' up anyway." She swayed, pressing her fingers to her mouth.

"Oh no you _don't_, don't you _dare_ be sick. I just washed my hair. FRANK! FRANK, COME AND GET HER BEFORE SHE BARFS!"


	2. Chapter 2

**To JasonGraceIsDead- for your last review on the Mark of Athena rewrite, I remember screaming really REALLY loudly, which was great because I was at school at the time? So, yeah, that went well!**

* * *

Louisa was not asleep for long, but Leo was crashing about and singing off-key to any Disney song that came into his head and she hardly stirred. She woke up to be sick. Luckily, Piper had had the foresight to leave a bucket in her room. Unluckily, Louisa missed.

"You OK, cupcake?" Hedge said, pinching his nose at the smell. Louisa groaned. She tipped her glass of water over the mess. With a flick of her fingers, it leapt into the bucket. Her head was spinning, every breath stung. She wiped her face on her sleeve, but it was no good. She was sweltering. Piper would undoubtedly call her gross and sweaty again. "Can I get you anything?"

"Can… can ya help me…" She held her hand out, deciding to keep her mouth shut as bile seared her throat. Coach stepped in, giving the bucket a wide berth. He grabbed Louisa's wrist and elbow with an iron grip. She simply pointed to the showers and he took her there, dumping her in a stall, fully-clothed.

"Do you want me to get Piper or-?" Louisa shook her head. The showerhead rattled above her and ice cold water streamed down. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was a brief respite from this rocketing temperature, the aching inhalations. It would have to do for now. "What's going on?"

"It's hot down there." Coach startled, whirling round.

"DIE!" He screamed.

"Please." Nico said.

"Don't sneak up on a satyr!" Coach reprimanded, wagging a finger in the boy's face. Nico just stared at him. Louisa coughing brought him back. He waited for it to subside. She hit the wall in frustration. Tiles cracked under the impact. Ice crept from beneath her across the wet floor. Coach tottered back a few steps. Nico stayed put, droplets freezing on his boots.

"It's hot down there. Indescribably so." He sniffed, dark, tired eyes roaming the shower room. "The air… is poisonous."

"Is this supposed ta make me feel better?"

"It's to make you understand." Nico replied carefully. Louisa looked up at him, sea green irises unusually bright. Nico looked to Coach. "Give us a moment?"

"Course. Just… shout if you need anything."

"Thanks, Coach." Nico nodded. The satyr shot them concerned looks before leaving.

"How did ya do it?"

"I didn't." He fixed his gaze on the furthest shower stall. He could feel the chill from her ice seeping through his clothes, but it soothed him. "I can't explain it. It was hot, suffocating. The… the air… it… each breath was another chance of being your l-l-last."

"If you don't wanna talk about it-"

"I can't."

"Don't push yaself."

"It's in my head, Lou." His hands were shaking as much as his voice. "It's in my head, in my skin, in my lungs-" Louisa held her hand out. Nico took it automatically. He sat next to her, closing his eyes as the cold water washed over him too.

"I'm only gettin' a fraction of what Percy's feelin'. I can't imagine you doin' that alone."

"And yet, you volunteered to go down there."

"Out of you, me, Percy 'n' Annabeth- I probably deserve ta go down there the most." She sighed. Nico said nothing, letting himself enjoy the coolness. He imagined it rinsing away the sticky suffocation lingering on his skin. He could see her in his peripheral, saw the slouch of her shoulders, the nerve working in her jaw. They were soaked to the skin, she itched at her arm, raking angry scarlet lines up and down her forearm.

"One demigod alone is not enough." He told her. "I only got out because the giants' had another use for me. If not… if not for that, I'd… I'd still be-"

"No." She glared at him. The scratching stopped. Her nails dug into her skin. A lump rose in Nico's throat. She could read him as easily as he could her. Had he still been down there, she would have found him. She would have stopped at nothing to make sure he was safe. Her glower called him out on his doubt and he bowed his head.

"I'm not worth the risk, Lou."

"Fuck off with that bullshit, Nico." She warned. He bit the inside of his cheek, examining the ice on his boots. Louisa rubbed at her face tiresomely. "I'm an extra. Always have been, always will be. An extra twin, an extra demigod, an extra cannon-fodder. You ain't. You've got shit ta do that's gonna change the world. I'm just here ta keep ya alive long enough ta do it."

"No. Lou-" She shook her head, sliding her back up the wall as she stood shakily.

"I'm gonna check on the others. Next time I see ya, ya'd better have eaten two sandwiches." She tapped her finger on her chest and she was dry. "Make that two sandwiches, an apple 'n' some cake." Nico nodded. She glared.

"Yes, Lou." He confirmed. She nodded once and stumbled off. She crashed into the door frame, waving him away before he even had the chance to move. She leaned against it for a moment, breathing deeply and slowly. Then she was gone.

* * *

In the morning, just after sunrise, they gathered around the table in the mess hall. Leo sat watching the real-time Camp Half-Blood on the walls. He was covered in grime, his hair stuck up in all directions and his clothes were dishevelled and slept in. Jason whispered to Louisa that he found Leo asleep and hugging Nike in the engine room. "Thought it'd cheer you up a bit."

"I'd have appreciated seein' it firsthand."

"I'll bear that in mind." He smiled. He sat at the head of the table. With Annabeth gone, he had defaulted himself the leader. He was doing his best to lead, but it was stressing him out. His eyes were sunken, his hair uncharacteristically a disaster. Louisa was kind of proud of him for it, finally looking a little more human.

Hazel sat next to her, bleary-eyed and yawning. She had been up most of the night steering them through Hecate's northern pass. Frank was beside her, grumpy and exhausted from the night shift too. He had pinned his centurion's badge to his shirt, which was bittersweet, considering they were Rome's Most Wanted. Next to him was Nico, picking at a bunch of grapes. Louisa fixed a steely look on him and he popped one in his mouth.

Piper was the only one absent, taking up watch with Coach on the helm.

"We need to know more about the House of Hades," Jason began, "Nico, what can you tell us?" Nico flicked a grape at Louisa and sighed.

"I communed with the dead last night."

"Super casual." Louisa remarked. Another grape bounced off her head. Leo marvelled at the pair. He was vaguely aware they knew each other, for years, but he didn't know any details. His curiosity demanded he asked, but his common sense reminded him to keep his head attached.

"In ancient times," he continued, "the House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims. They would come to speak with the dead and honour their ancestors."

"Oh! Like Día de los Meurtos!" Leo nodded. "My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously." He made a face.

"The Chinese have that too," Frank grunted, "ancestor worship, sweeping their graves in the spring." He glanced at Leo. "Your Aunt Rosa would've gotten along well with my grandmother." Leo considered him for a moment.

"Yeah," he smiled weakly, "I'm sure they would've been best buds."

"I'd like ta meet Aunt Rosa." Louisa said airily.

"That sounds like you want to make mincemeat of her." Nico scratched at his chin.

"Oh, I do."

"That's unsurprising."

"Eat your grapes."

"Anyway, a lot of cultures had seasonal traditions to honour the dead, but the House of Hades was open year round. Pilgrims could actually_ speak_ to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death."

"Cheery."

"You'd work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions-"

"Yum." Leo muttered. Jason shot him a _be quiet_ look. Leo frowned at him- _how come he got a 'be quiet' and not Lou_?

"Go on, Nico." He encouraged gently.

"The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future." Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate.

"And if the spirits _weren't_ pleased?"

"Some pilgrims found nothing. Some went insane or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again."

"Ooh, sign me up." Louisa raised her mug. Nico bounced a grape off her forehead. "If you do that _one more time-_"

"Nico said he found some information that might help us." Jason cut across quickly.

"Yeah." Nico said, eyeing his cousin sidelong. He toyed with a grape between his thumb and finger. Leo could see he was itching to throw it. Louisa set her mug down with a _thud_ and he ate the grape. "The ghost I spoke to last night, he was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told Hazel. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She killed the anti-Hecate giant, a guy named Clytius."

"Dark dude," Leo guessed, "wrapped in shadows." Hazel squinted at him.

"How did you know that?"

"Kind of had a dream?"

"Aww, not one about Nike?" Louisa smirked. Leo pouted, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Jason, I don't like you anymore." He decided. Jason hunched his shoulders like_ what can you do_? Leo sighed and explained. He tried not to look at the wall images of Camp Half Blood as he described the place in ruins. He described the dark giant and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill. "She offered me a multiple-choice death."

"Lucky." Louisa tutted.

"So the giant is Clytius." Jason said. "I suppose he'll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors." Frank rolled up one of his pancakes, taking a large bite.

"And the woman in Leo's dreams?"

"Not Nike." Louisa reminded them.

"She's my problem." Hazel said at the same time. She passed a diamond between her fingers in a sleight of hand. "Hecate mentioned her, a witch who couldn't be defeated except by me, using magic."

"Avada Kedavra." Louisa suggested. Leo snorted. Hazel blinked at her.

"What's that?"

"Oh my gods, if we survive this, you have _so much_ ta catch up on." Hazel raised a brow at Frank. He swallowed his mouthful and nodded seriously.

"Do you know magic?" Leo asked.

"Not yet."

"Ah." He pursed his lips, drumming his fingers on the table. "Any idea who she is?" Hazel shook her head.

"Only that…" She glanced at Nico, a silent argument flitting between them. Louisa leant forward in her seat, frowning. "Only that she won't be easy to defeat." Hazel eventually said, frowning at her brother. Louisa wrinkled her nose at the pair of them. Nico motioned to her, giving the tiniest nod, and she relaxed slightly.

"There _is_ some good news," Nico said, "the ghost I talked to explained how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used her torches to set his hair on fire and he burned to death. Fire is his weakness." Everyone looked to Leo. Leo looked over his shoulder. A grape hit him in the back of his head and he whipped round to gape at Nico.

"OK, here's an idea," Louisa tapped her finger on the table, "Leo spontaneously combusts 'n' we launch him at this shadow man. Ooh, throw in some grenades 'n' fireworks. That'd be cool."

"Please don't launch me at the shadow man."

"Ugh, funsponge."

"However it works," Jason raised his hands for quiet, "it's a good lead. At least we know how to kill the giant. If Hecate believes Hazel can defeat this sorceress, then so do I." Hazel smiled bashfully.

"Is that before or after I teach her Harry Potter?" Louisa quizzed. Jason contemplated a response for almost a minute. Leo got the giggles and he came back around, shaking his head.

"You do you, Lou."

"That whole thing fuckin' rhymed." She laughed, wiping at her face. "Oh, here we go again." She sighed. "I'm gonna go sit in the shower, call me if ya need me." She stumbled out.

"Is she going to be OK?" Leo asked.

"Yeah." Nico replied, examining a grape. "I've seen her take on a manticore blind and with a broken leg. I'm sure she can handle Percy's stupid."

"How did you meet Lou?" Jason asked. Leo shot him a grateful look that went unnoticed- at least it wasn't him prying. Nico squished his grape, frowning.

"I shadow-travelled and fell on top of her while she was trying to shoot a monster." Something in his tone told them no more questions. Leo glanced around the table. Frank polished off the last of his pancake, readying a second. Hazel was squeezing her diamond, chewing her lower lip nervously. Jason looked like he did want to ask Nico some more questions, but was wisely keeping his mouth shut.

"So," Leo said, drumming his hands on the table, "with this detour, we should be in Epirus in about four or five days. Assuming no delays for, you know, monster attacks and stuff."

"Yeah," Jason smiled sourly, "those _never _happen."

"Almost as rare as Lou swearing." Leo agreed. He looked at Hazel. "Hecate told you that Gaia was planning her big Wake Up party on August first, right?" Hazel nodded. "The Feast of Pez?"

"Spes." Hazel corrected. "The goddess of hope."

"That makes more sense."

"Theoretically, that leaves us enough time. It's only July fifth. We should be able to close the Doors, find the giants' HQ and stop them from waking Gaia before August first."

"Theoretically." Hazel agreed. "But I'd love to know how we make it through the House of Hades without going insane or dying." Nobody offered any ideas. "Great." Hazel sighed.

The ship lurched as if it had hit an iceberg. Leo's breakfast plate slid across the table and he stared at it, betrayed. Nico fell backwards out of his chair and banged his head on the sideboard. He collapsed on the floor, a dozen magic goblets and platters crashing down on him. "Nico!" Hazel cried, rushing to his aid.

"What-?" Frank tried to stand, but the ship pitched in the other direction. He stumbled into the table and went face-first into Leo's plate of scrambled eggs. Past him, Leo saw Louisa sprint past, her feet thumping on the steps.

"Look!" Jason pointed at the walls. The images of Camp Half Blood were flickering and changing. Leo frowned at them, betrayed there too.

"Not possible." He murmured. Those enchantments couldn't show anything other than Camp. But now there was a huge, distorted face filling the entire port-side wall; crooked yellow teeth, a scraggly red beard, a warty nose and two mismatched eyes, one of which was much larger and higher than the other.

The other walls flickered, showing scenes from above. Piper stood at the helm, but she was wrapped in duct tape from the shoulders down. Her mouth was gagged and her legs were bound to the control console. At the mainmast, Coach was similarly bound and gagged, while a bizarre looking creature- something between a gnome and chimpanzee with poor fashion sense- danced around him, doing the coach's hair in tiny pigtails with pink rubber bands.

Louisa appeared suddenly, slashing at the creature. It moved fast and she blinked in surprise. Her other hand flew up and a torrent of water whooshed past the creature. It ducked, gurgling a laugh and darted for her legs. She cut down with her blade, but it wasn't there. It had leapt up, a band of duct tape between its mitts. Her sword went flying, she was thrown back, her hand duct-taped to the console. It giggled wickedly, running at her legs. She jolted her leg, feinting a kick, and the creature leapt up. Louisa twisted, high-kicking it in the head.

On the wall, the face receded as its partner wailed in pain. Louisa wrenched her hand free, shaking her head and swearing. Leo could see the entire creature, another gnome chimp, in even crazier clothes. It launched itself, slamming into Louisa's back.

"Lou!" Leo cried. The creatures were throwing things into a burlap sack- Lou's sword, Piper's dagger, Leo's Wii controllers. One prised the Archimedes sphere from the command console. "No!" Nico groaned on the floor. Leo was the first out of the room, charging up the steps two at a time. Frank and Jason weren't far behind him. Leo pulled a mallet from his tool belt.

"Monkeys!" Frank yelped.

"Not monkeys!" Jason corrected. "I think they're dwarfs!"

"Stealing my stuff!" Leo raged. He glanced to Louisa. She sat up, groggy and complaining, wiping at her face. "Lou, you OK?" She squinted at him. Leo got the impression she wasn't actually seeing him. She swayed, swallowing bile. Jason took a step forward, repeating Leo's question.

"I feel rather homicidal." She muttered. Her legs buckled as soon as she tried to stand. "Oh, not now, Percy." She groaned. She looked up at Leo. "Break their legs for me." Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped on her side.

"Gladly." Leo said grimly. Jason drew his sword and together, they charged.


	3. Chapter 3

Louisa was rather upset that she missed the whole ordeal. She had slept through explosions of magic grenades and Leo swearing in Spanish and the dwarves doing… whatever the heck they felt like. Gorilla-Frank had been knocked out by a flashbang grenade. She missed Jason and Leo heading down into Bologna after the dwarves fired themselves from the ballistae or back-flipped over the edge. She had thankfully missed the giant bronze statue of her buck-naked father- she was still scarred by Otis in his baby blue leotard, that was _enough_.

While they were out 'adventuring', losing the zippers from their trousers (Leo) and getting hung upside down mid-lightning blast by aforementioned Naked Dad Statue (Jason), Louisa was having a grand old time seeing Tartarus through her brother's eyes.

The images were hazy, coated with a red mist that burned her lungs. The vision swivelled and she could see Annabeth, kneeling at the edge of a river of pure lava. She thrust her hands into it, hurriedly scooping some up in cupped hands. She drank it, trembling. Tears leaked down her face. Louisa tried yelling at her. Her vision went dark, she felt hot air rushing over her skin. Percy had passed out.

Black shapes swirled in her mind. Each one overlapped the previous, darkening and blackening with every new incarnation. Her stomach rolled, bile blazed her throat.

She blinked and colours swam back. She saw Percy swinging his sword over Annabeth's head and the dream changed. She saw Leo shopping for toothpaste and string. Then Hazel cutting Piper free, Frank stumbling about, dazed and squinting at everything. Nico had cut Hedge free and was helping get the pink bands from his hair. She saw Reyna, sat in an armchair with her head in her hands. Then back to Percy and Annabeth, from her own perspective, following a gaggle of empousai along the lava river.

She awoke to Nico tapping her on the forehead, looking cross.

"My socks are wet." He complained. Louisa gulped dryly. Someone had attacked her throat with acidic sandpaper in her sleep. Nico frowned. He turned away slightly, presenting a glass of water a moment later. He helped her sit up, held the glass while she drank. The cool water was sharp, but relieving. The glass was empty before she realised; it hadn't been enough.

While Nico was refilling it, she surveyed the room. Someone had carried her down to the medical bay, but a good two feet of water was slowly sloshed on the floor. It seemed to hit an invisible barrier at the doorway, rippling against it. Nico held the glass out. She downed the whole pitcher before feeling marginally better. "You OK?"

"Fantastic." She croaked. "What've I missed?"

"I will let Leo and Jason fill you in on that." Nico said carefully. He didn't quite meet her gaze, looking mildly amused about something. Louisa swung her legs over the side. She stood with a little difficulty. Nico held onto her elbow but she insisted on stumbling out by herself.

On deck, the others were mostly done with the tidying up. Leo stood at the helm, reconnecting his Archimedes sphere. Coach was running his fingers through his hair, checking for any stray pink bands. Jason, Frank and Piper were moving about with barrels, ropes, boxes of ballistae bolts and other odds and ends. Piper beamed when she saw Louisa, setting her box down.

"About time you got up!"

"Sorry. Blame Percy." Louisa muttered.

"You feeling OK?" Jason asked.

"Feelin' great."

"She's flooded the infirmary." Nico said. Leo's head turned so quickly, Louisa was amazed he hadn't given himself whiplash. "Literally just the infirmary." Nico continued. "The water won't go past the door." Leo's annoyance turned into confusion.

"How?"

"I dunno." Louisa shrugged. "What happened with the dwarves? Why were you buyin' toothpaste?" Leo grinned devilishly. He and Jason took turns describing their portions of the little expedition to Bologna. Louisa sat on the floor as they spoke, overcome with yet another bout of high temperature. Leo showed her the book and the weird bronze astrolabe. "And then," he smirked proudly, "I had them swear on the Styx to go and terrorise the Romans and steal all _their_ shinies." He grinned. "Slow_ them_ down a bit."

"I'd love to see Octavian dealing with them." Hazel smiled wistfully. Louisa clamped a hand to her the side of her neck and Hazel's smile dimmed. "Lou, you OK?"

"Ooh, that hurt." Louisa said through gritted teeth. Nico crouched next to her, gently prying her hand away. A bruise had blossomed. In the shape of a bite mark. Deep, angry purple and black bruises. Louisa squinted at Nico. She grimaced. Stabbing pains ran through her shoulders.

"Her arm!" Piper gasped. Nico gently took Louisa by the wrist. Just above her elbow, another bite-mark bruise, darker than the first. "_What is going on_?"

"Not sure." Louisa said through gritted teeth. She looked at her arm, wincing. She flexed her fingers. A barrel lost its lid and water sloshed out, slathering over her arms. She held a water-coated hand over the bruise on her neck and sighed. Nico tipped his head to one side, examining the one on her arm.

"Looks like an empousa bite."

"Joy." Louisa grumbled.

"They're healing this time though." Leo remarked. "Not like those weird bruises you had last time."

"I… don't think it's me though." Louisa puzzled. She closed her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek. "I… can only see this big… really big dude. Very silver."

"Holding a broom?" Nico asked quietly.

"Uh…" Louisa's brow creased in concentration. "Looks it, but… not sure." She opened her eyes. "Why? Who is it?" Nico's eyes had darkened. His hand covered his mouth, what little colour he had regained was white-washed away. "Nico?" His eyes slid up to meet hers. He gave the tiniest, barely visible shake of his head. _Later_.

"Everything OK?" Jason asked, frowning. Louisa considered Nico for another moment, but he tucked his head down, biting his thumbnail.

"Yeah." Louisa looked to Jason. "Smashin'."

* * *

"What _are _they?" Hazel asked. She and Louisa were already on deck. The others were slowly coming up. Leo had docked the Argo II at a busy wharf. On one side ran a shipping channel, half a kilometre wide. On the other side, was Venice. Red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers and sun-bleached buildings in all the Valentine colours- red, white, ochre, pink and orange. Lion statues were _everywhere_, on pedestals, over doorways, on porticoes of the largest buildings. Instead of streets, green canals etched through the neighbourhoods. Each one was jammed with motorboats, something Louisa hissed at. Along the docks, the sidewalks were laden with tourists shopping at T-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores and lounging outside acres of cafes.

Hazel's question had been directed at dozens of weird, shaggy monsters milling through the crowds. They were each the size of a cow, with a bowed back. Their fur was grey and matted, they had skinny legs and black cloven hooves. Their heads seemed too heavy for their necks, snuffling at the ground. Their eyes were lost behind overgrown grey manes. Tourists passed around them, unconcerned. A few even petted them.

"The mortals think they're stray dogs." Jason huffed.

"Or pets roaming around." Piper said. "My dad shot a film in Venice once- he told me there were dogs everywhere. Venetians love dogs."

"But what are they?" Frank asked, repeating Hazel's question. "They look like… starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair." Louisa laughed, giving him a thumbs up.

"Maybe they're harmless." Leo suggested. "They're ignoring the mortals."

"Harmless!" Hedge scoffed. He had one pink rubber band stuck in his hair- no-one opted to mention it. "Valdez, how many _harmless_ monsters have we met? We should just fire at them and see what happens."

"Uuuuuhhhhh, no." Leo decided.

"We'll have to walk through them." Frank said, grimacing. He clearly hated that idea. "It's the only way we're going to track down whoever owns that book." Leo retrieved the book from his tool belt. He had slapped a sticky note on it, with the address the dwarves had provided.

"La Casa Nera." He read. "Calle Frezzeria."

"The Black House." Nico translated at Frank's shoulder, making Frank jump.

"He sneaks." Louisa smiled.

"Calle Frezzeria is the street." Nico continued, patting Frank's arm.

"You speak Italian?" Frank asked. Nico flung him a warning look.

"Frank is right." He said. "We have to find that address and that means walking through those things. Venice is a maze. We'll have to risk the crowds and… whatever those are." He frowned at the strange creatures again. Louisa scratched at her chin, considering Venice's skyline. Leo raised a brow at her.

"You're not Assassin Creeding through the city."

"Then I'm not goin'." She sulked. Thunder rumbled in the clear sky. Louisa glanced up. "That weren't me." She promised. They had passed through some storms in the night, so some of the others nodded. The storms may be behind them, but the air was still muggy and thick.

Jason frowned at the horizon.

"I'll stay on the ship." He said. "Lots of venti in that storm last night; I'll stay if they decide to attack again." He looked to Louisa. "Feeling up to helping me?"

"Mmm… is it a definite no on the Assassin Creedin'?"

"Yes."

"Then I suppose I _have_ to." She groaned, rolling her eyes. Jason half-smiled.

"Well, I'm out too." Coach grunted. "You lot are bunch of soft-hearted cupcakes, going for a stroll in Venice without whacking those things on the head. How _boring_."

"It's OK, Coach." Leo grinned devilishly. "You can help me repair the foremast. And then I need some help in the engine room, I've got an idea for a new installation."

"Leo, buddy," Louisa pressed her hands together, "your last _installations_ exploded. Everywhere. With smoke."

"That went in my room." Frank added. Leo looked from one to the other, pouting.

"Details, details." He eventually shrugged. "So, who's going then?"

"Probably someone good with animals." Piper suggested. "But, um, yeah, I'm not great with cows."

"That's oddly specific, I need details." Louisa looked at her questioningly. Piper avoided her gaze, humming distractedly.

"I'll go." Frank offered. Leo patted him on the shoulder and handed the leather-bound book over.

"Awesome, Zhang. If you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours and a gallon of tar?"

"Leo," Hazel swatted at him playfully, "it's not a shopping trip." "

"I'll go with Frank." Nico piped up.

"Um… you're good with animals?" Frank asked.

"No." Nico smiled without humour. "Most animals hate me- they can sense death. But there's something about this city…" His gaze passed over the view of Venice, expression grim. "Lots of death. Restless spirits. If I go, I may be able to keep them at bay. And, you know, I speak Italian. Might be helpful."

"Nah, not really." Louisa stuck her tongue out. Nico replied similarly.

"And I'll go too." Hazel smiled up at Frank, sliding her arm through his. "Three is the best number for a demigod quest, right?"

"I hate that number." Louisa sighed.

"You hate everything." Piper pointed out.

"Not true. I hate some things more than others 'n' I don't call that hate."

"What _do_ you call it?"

"My to-do list."

"Your hit list." Jason corrected.

"Same difference."


	4. Chapter 4

**To JasonGraceIsDead- I think if Leo tried to tickle Lou, he _might_ lose his arms and have them shoved up his nose! :P**

* * *

Louisa regretted staying on the ship. The 'boring' trip into Venice turned into quite the debacle. The cow creatures- _katoblepones- _hadn't been harmless. Their breath was poisonous and their gaze inflicted severe nausea. Frank had turned into a lion to begin with, but he got a face-full of the poisonous breath. Hazel had too, but the effect was worse on her. Louisa interrupted the story to glare at her, smiling stiffly- "You nearly _died_?"

"I wasn't planning on it. Now shush and listen to the rest of the story."

They had found the book's owner- who apparently hadn't been a fan of children of the Underworld. He had refused to help Hazel and when Nico threatened him, had turned Nico into a potted corn plant. Louisa did her best not to laugh. She failed, admittedly, but at least she had _tried_ her best. Nico seemed to mentally scratch her off his Christmas card list.

Frank had returned the book, narrowly avoiding being turned into sorghum. "His name was Trip… uh, Trip-to-le-mus." He said slowly. "Demeter gave him his powers. As a mortal prince, he allowed Demeter to stay at his place once. When Hades kidnapped Persephone. He didn't realise he had accepted Demeter into his home, but she made him the god of farming for his help."

"Ooh, excitin'. Now, can you explain why you're 'bout three times taller than before 'n' built like Thor?" Frank's ears turned red and he glanced down at his new body. He told them about the task Triptolemus had set for him, regaining the python for the right wheel of his chariot. Louisa wasn't overly happy to hear about the snake, but dutifully stayed quiet. Everyone gaped at Frank as the story went on, marvelling, sheer awe flooding their features. He hesitated when he got to the part when his father appeared briefly to speak with him.

"But he gave you the snake?" Jason asked. Frank nodded and Jason beamed at him proudly. Heat flooded Frank's cheeks and he looked down, rather pleased with himself. Nico picked up the story, ignoring Louisa as she made popping noises and motions with her hands.

"Triptolemus said when we arrive at Epirus, we'll be offered a chalice to drink from. It's filled with deadly poison, but we _have_ to drink it. It'll connect us to the world of the dead, will let us pass into the lower levels." He waited for that to sink in. "But he gave us some barley, we'll need to make it into cakes. We have to eat them before we go into the House of Hades. It will absorb the worst of the poison, taking away the chance it'll kill you."

"Bummer." Louisa huffed.

"It took us a while to figure out which one was barley." Hazel smiled sheepishly. "Trip seemed to assume we just knew."

"Typical farmin' god. Frank," she smirked at him, a dare gleaming in her eyes, "I challenge ya ta an arm wrestle."

* * *

Two days passed out without incident. Louisa had picked up the habit of climbing on Frank's shoulders, declaring she was queen of the world. Frank gave up trying to stop her after the fourth time. Even Piper couldn't get her to stop, but it didn't help that she kept laughing at Louisa's antics. She had perked up quite a bit once they hit the Adriatic. Hazel's seasickness kicked in and Louisa revelled in it. Seeing her in a better mood somewhat lifted spirits onboard. Even Nico seemed to frown less.

The morning of the second day started rather boring until Hazel woke up. She could be heard screaming from the deck. Everyone rushed to her room only to find her dancing about her cabin in her pyjamas, still screaming, hopping about and over a farting weasel that screeched every time her feet got too close. The weasel was a little difficult to explain. Leo did his best not to make a joke. Louisa didn't even try to conceal her laughter, doubling over and wheezing.

Hazel went to find Coach, who could talk to animals. The weasel- the _polecat_, Gale, scampered after her, farting her way along.

Louisa ate breakfast watching the sea. Her skin tingled. Something nagged at her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She seemed distantly aware of something… _something_, but she couldn't pinpoint it. It felt distant and disjointed. She scanned the ocean around them. It was a beautiful azure blue, the tang of sea salt in the breeze soothed her headache a little. She felt cooler, out here, more settled. If only they could stay on the ocean…

A glob of jam fell from her toast, splattering on the rail. She sighed and smeared it along with her finger. Pins and needles pricked the back of her neck and she looked up.

The ship lurched. Her toast fell into the water below and she stared after it.

"My toast…"

"It's eating the oars!" Leo screamed.

"Eat this, ya stupid turtle!" Piper yelled defiantly, standing on the quarter deck with her cornucopia. _Turtle_? Louisa thought, glancing over her shoulder. The pins and needles crawled the entirety of her skin in two seconds and vanished. Frank sprinted past her.

"Oars won't retract!" Leo wailed. "Get it away! Get it away! LOUISA, GET THE TURTLE AWAY FROM MY SHIP!"

"Styx, it's huge!" Nico cursed from up on the rigging. "Port!" He yelled at Louisa. "Go port!" Coach was the last one on deck, making up for it with enthusiasm. He bounded up the steps, waving his bat and goat-galloped to the stern. He vaulted the rail with a gleeful "Ha-HA!"

The boat shuddered. More oars snapped. Louisa made it to the railing, staring down at this turtle.

"No, no, no!" Leo stomped his foot. "Dang slimy-shelled son of a mother!" He cursed.

The turtle was the size of an island. Its shell was a landmass, hills of bone, shiny pearl valleys, kelp and moss forests, rivers of seawater trickling down the grooves of its carapace. Louisa sensed movement beneath her feet and turned. On the ship's starboard size, another part of the monster rose from the water like a submarine.

It was its head.

Golden eyes the size of wading pools glowered at her, dark sideways slits for pupils. Its skin glistened, brown flecked with green and yellow. Its red, toothless mouth could've swallowed the Athena Parthenos in one bite. Louisa clenched her fists. It bit of half a dozen more oars. "Stop that!" Leo cried. Coach was clambering about the turtle's shell, whacking at it with his baseball bat.

"Take that! And that!" He chortled, seemingly unaware of the ineffectiveness of his baseball bat.

Louisa looked the monster in the eye, squaring her shoulders. It stared back at her, clamping its mouth shut with a loud _snap_. A bemused sound trickled from its throat, almost like purring. _My master will not be happy to see you_, its voice filled her mind, gravelly yet chipper.

"Where is your master?" She asked.

_He will make himself known when he wants to. _Louisa racked her brain. She _knew_ this turtle, she did! But why couldn't she remember _anything_ about it?

"Leave." She ordered. "Leave this ship, leave us alone."

_You do not command me so easily, sister of my master. _

"Shit." It clicked. She whirled round. "Leo, can the ship fly?"

"With half our oars broken off?" Leo punched some buttons and spun his sphere. "I'll have to try something else!" He glanced back. "It's not listening to you?" Louisa gritted her teeth, glaring back at the turtle. It was making that amused purring sound again. Jason flew in and stabbed his sword between its eyes. The blade slipped sideways, as if the turtle's skin was greased steel. He flew out of the way as the turtle opened its mouth.

Arrows whistled past Louisa- Frank was shooting at the turtle's eyes too. The turtle's filmy inner eyelids blinked with uncanny precision, deflecting each shot. Piper shot cantaloupes into the water.

"Fetch, turtle!" She shouted, layering on her charmspeak. "Fetch!"

"How did it get so close?" Hazel demanded. Leo hit his controls and swore.

"Must be that shell!" He frowned. "Guess it's invisible to sonar!"

_I am rather sneaky_. The turtle's eyes glittered. Louisa sighed.

"Ya pissin' me off, go away."

_I've already told you, you do not command me_.

"Tell ya master not ta be such a coward. He can come fight me himself."

_He has a better use of his time than that, little one_.

"Lou, what's it saying?" Hazel asked.

"Nothin' helpful." Louisa muttered.

"What's this about a master?" Hazel glanced around, but she could only see the turtle.

"There!" Nico yelled from above. "Can you get us to those straits?" About half a mile to the east, a long strip of land ran parallel to the coastal cliffs. It was hard to be sure from this distance, but the stretch of water between them seemed to be only twenty or thirty yards across. The Argo II would have no trouble fitting. That turtle's shell… not so much.

Leo called Jason back and he flew down to snatch Coach up.

"Come on, Coach!"

"No, I got this!" The satyr defied. Jason grabbed him around the waist, but he struggled so much, Jason lost his sword. It splashed into the sea.

"Coach!" Jason complained.

"What? I was softening him up!" The turtle head-butted the hull, almost tossing them off the port side. Louisa threw out her hands to stabilise the ship, but there was a cracking sound somewhere below. Like the keel had splintered.

"Lou!" Leo protested. "I need a minute!"

"No time!" Louisa faced the straits, calling on all the water she could. The ship rocked dangerously as the turtle headbutted again, but they missed a good chunk of its force. Louisa raised her hands, a sharp pain twisting her gut.

_You will not beat my master_.

"Shut up!" She roared, throwing her hands back. The ship lunged forward. Leo slammed into the control panel, Jason, Piper and Hazel lost their footing. Frank stumbled into the mast. Nico yelped on the rigging, hanging on for dear life. The water whisked them along. The ship groaned. Behind them, the turtle screeched.

"It's gaining on us!" Nico warned.

"Leo!" Louisa shouted. Leo gunned the engines and she faced backwards. _Come on then, _she thought,_ let's see what ya've got._ She flung her hands in the direction of the turtle. The water beneath the ship changed direction, rolling in dozens of waves upon waves, roaring and crashing. The turtle glanced up only to be slammed in the face with her tidal wave.

For a few seconds, the turtle stayed underwater. The others found their feet, looking back hopefully, but Louisa knew better. She could sense its bemusement turning into irritation. When it raised its head, she smiled. "Hazel, we need a distraction." Hazel nodded and closed her eyes. Almost instantly, a bright flash of light appeared on the horizon, trailing steam. It streaked across the surface of the Adriatic and then Arion stood on the quarterdeck.

"I love this horse." Hazel grinned. Arion snorted.

_Of course you do_, Louisa heard him say smugly,_ you're not stupid_.

"Piper," Hazel said, climbing on Arion's back, "I could use your charmspeak."

"Once upon a time," Piper muttered, "I liked turtles. Not anymore!" She took Hazel's hand and climbed up behind her.

"Arion." Louisa said. The horse looked at her. _Look after them. _She didn't say the words out loud. She didn't need to, really. Arion tossed his mane.

_Well, duh. Hazel's _my_ human, I'm not going to toss her to that fucking turtle now, am I?_

_Mind his master._

_Never liked him. Bastard. _Arion stomped his hoof. Louisa nodded in agreement. Hazel spurred him on and he bounded over the side of the boat, hitting the water at full gallop. Piper screamed, torn between fear and delight.

The turtle was fast, but it couldn't match Arion's speed. Louisa went back to propelling the ship into the straits. Their equestrian team zipped about the turtle's head. Hazel sliced with her sword. Piper shouted random commands. The sword did no damage. The commands only last a second or two, at best. Arion would tease the turtle, making it snap at him, only to vanish at the last possible second and let the creature inhale horse vapour.

As soon as they passed through the straits, Arion returned. The turtle stopped at the entrance to the straits, glaring at them balefully. Hazel dismounted and received a big hug from Frank.

"Nice work out there!" He beamed. She turned crimson and squeaked a thanks. Piper jumped neatly to the floor, patting Arion's neck. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was a wild, damp mess, but she was grinning.

"I need me a horse like this."

_One of a kind, sweetheart_. Arion nuzzled her hand. He looked at Louisa. _You look like shit. _He whinnied, tossing his head and jutting his chin in Louisa's direction.

"Lou, you OK?"

"Great." Louisa said through gritted teeth. She didn't feel great. She was hugging herself tightly, expression tight and pale. Searing hot pain pulsed through her chest, as if something had been run right through her ribcage.

"Is… is it Percy?" Jason asked.

"It's fine." She tried to stand, movements stiff. She winced, even the littlest of breaths were traitorous and agonising. "What do we do now?" She gestured at the turtle.

"Kill it!" Coach said. "You even have to ask? We've got enough distance, we've got ballista. Lock and load, demigods!"

"First of all," Jason frowned at him, "you made me lose my sword."

"I didn't ask for an evac!"

"Second, I don't think the ballistae will do any good. That shell is like Nemean Lion skin. Its head isn't any softer…" He trailed off, distracted by Louisa. Something had changed in her expression between his words. She was paler than Nico, her eyes wide with terror. She was shaking her head and taking heavy, unsteady steps backwards, away from them. "Lou?"

"No, no, no…" She shook her head again. Nico dropped down from the rigging, landing a few feet in front of her. She startled, lurching backwards, tripping over her own feet in the process.

"It's OK, Lou, it's OK. We'll-"

"Percy." She rasped. She motioned at her chest, shaking her head. Pain flooded through her gut, reminiscent of Chrysaor's blade twisting in her stomach. She groaned, somehow now on her side. She curled up, arms wrapped around her middle. A burning sensation doused her skin, nothing like the high temperature she had been saddled with the last few days. This was fiery, like a full-body blowtorch. But her blood felt cold, icy. An ache teemed through her thigh, her mouth was burning, white-hot snakes blazed down her throat and crashed through her insides.

Piper and Nico knelt either side of her, but didn't dare touch her. Steam had begun rolling off her skin. She gagged, turning her face towards the floor. A few metres away, a barrel of water exploded, soaking Coach. He was knocked off his feet, flung sideways into Jason. Louisa screamed and the other barrels followed suit.

"Sleep!" Piper cried, pouring all the power she could muster into her voice. For a moment, Louisa's eyes opened. They were colourless, shattered, a terror too potent for mere words. Piper's hand trembled as she brushed Louisa's hair back from her face. "Sleep." She said softly. "Don't dream, just sleep." Louisa had no will to resist. She was out within seconds, but whatever pains had overcome her stayed. They kept coming.

"Great!" Coach spluttered, swiping water from his eyes. "We've got no way out," he pointed ahead of them- the channel ended in a narrow V, "that turtle is still there," he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, "the ship is in serious need of repair and our sea expert just passed out!"

"Well…" Piper struggled for a moment. "At least the turtle can't get us." She stood carefully, glancing worriedly down at Louisa. "We're safe here." Famous last words. The sentence had barely left her lips when an arrow sunk into the mainmast, hardly an inch from her face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Short chapter today, I needed to split it!**

**To Guest on Chapter 2- Awww, do you ship LeLou too? ^_^ **

**And to JasonGraceIsDead- I will continue! The whole series is now complete, I'm working on a little something for afterwards! Can't say what though, no spoilers!**

* * *

Everyone scattered for cover. Except for Piper, who stood frozen in place. She gaped at the arrow.

"Piper!" Jason hissed. "Duck!" But no other missiles came. Frank shuffled over in a crouch, studying the angle of the bolt. He swivelled on his feet, pointing and squinting up at the top of the cliffs.

"Up there." He said. "Single shooter. See him?" Despite the glare of the sun, they could just about make out a small figure at the top of the ledge, shining in bronze armour.

"Who the heck is he?" Leo asked. "Why is he firing at us? Did he send that turtle? Can I kick his nose in?" His voice grew louder with each question. Piper interrupted him with news of a note attached to the arrow. Hazel scowled at the missile, storming over and untying it.

"First line: _Stand and deliver_. _This is a robbery. Send two of your party to the top of the cliff with all your valuables. No more than two. Leave the magic horse and my sister. No flying. No tricks. Just climb._" She looked up. "Lou was asking the turtle about its master. I think she knew who it was." Arion ducked his head, stomping his hoof. Hazel reached up to pat his neck. "Just climb." She repeated, frowning.

"Climb _what_?" Piper asked.

"There." Nico pointed. A narrow set of steps was carved into the cliffs, leading to the top. Hazel continued reading.

"_I do mean _all_ your valuables. Otherwise my turtle and I will destroy you. You have five minutes._"

"Use the catapults!" Coach cried.

"_P.S_," Hazel read, fixing a stern glower on him, "_don't even think about using the catapults_."

"Curse it!" The coach smacked his fist into his palm. "This guy is good."

"Um, yeah, OK, let's not compliment the guy whose turtle has eaten my boat." Leo flapped his hands. "Who is he anyway? Who's his sister- Lou?"

"Is the note signed?" Nico asked. Hazel checked it over, eventually shaking her head. She could feel the weight of Gale the Weasel's gaze on her. She still had something to prove…

Leo examined the cliff top, hands on his hips, muttering under his breath.

"That's not a good trajectory. Even if I could arm the catapult before that guy fills us with arrows, I don't think I could make the shot. That's _hundreds_ of feet. Almost straight up." Frank nodded glumly in agreement.

"My bow is useless too. He's got a huge advantage being that far above us."

"And, um," Piper flicked the arrow in front of her face, "I have a feeling he's a good shot." Louisa groaned. Her nose was bleeding. Piper hurriedly knelt. Leo chucked her a clean cloth and she gently wiped at the blood. "Lou?" She asked. "Can you hear me?" Louisa mumbled unintelligibly. A slither of sea green peered at Piper. She blinked once, twice and then she was staring at Piper, slowly coming back into a fraction of focus.

"Other brother." She croaked. "Other… brother." Arion neighed, clopping forward a few paces to nudge Louisa's shoulder. Her fingers brushed his nose gently. She coughed, blood staining her lower lip.

"Who is he, Lou? What's his name?" Piper asked softly.

"Sc… Sc…" She choked, bloody droplets splattering Piper's knuckles.

"No, Lou, just stay awake a little longer." Piper's charmspeak flowed over her. Louisa stirred, fighting unconsciousness. "What's his name?" Louisa stared at her unseeingly. She managed two words before oblivion took her.

"Percy's dyin'."


	6. Chapter 6

Hazel and Jason braved the cliff climb, once Hazel had summoned his sword back from the sea. A two-hundred-foot drop straight down into the water taunted them. Gale rode on her shoulder, passing wind every so often. Jason walked behind her, prepared to catch her if she fell, holding his nose and trying not to glare accusingly at the smelly polecat. Hazel was mulling something over, fidgeting with her hands. Jason had no doubt she could summon all the gold and jewels to placate the greediest of thieves, but he sensed her worry lay elsewhere.

"So, um… this controlling the Mist thing. Have you done it?"

"No." She admitted miserably.

"You'll get it." He said. His tone surprised her. He sounded truly convinced. She didn't look back at him, focusing on the steps below her feet.

"How can you be sure?" She asked quietly.

"Just am. I've got a good instinct for what people can do- demigods, anyway. Hecate wouldn't have picked you if she didn't believe you had power." He glanced to the right. The ship looked like a toy boat in the channel. The turtle's shell gleamed like a burnished coin.

"I hope Lou's alright." Hazel worried. "I don't understand this connection thing she and Percy share, but it's…" _Scary_. She let the word hang in the air. Jason stayed quiet for a moment.

"I've lost track of how many times Louisa was counted out." He said carefully. "And every single time, she came back." He looked at the back of Hazel's head. "She's rather persistent." A small laugh bubbled past Hazel's lips.

"I've noticed."

"Hard not to." Jason agreed. Gale squeaked and farted as they reached the top. "Where's this guy at then?" He asked, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Here!" Said a voice. Hazel flinched, Jason almost took a step back. Only ten feet away, a man had suddenly appeared. He had a bow and quiver over his shoulder and two old-fashioned flintlocks held in dual wield. He wore high leather boats, leather breeches and a pirate-style shirt. His curly black hair was wild and childish. His sparkly green eyes were friendly enough, but the lower half of his face was concealed with a red bandanna. "Welcome!" His eyes creased at the corners with a wicked grin. He aimed his guns at them. "Your money or your life!"

Hazel wasn't sure where the man had come from, as if he had popped up from thin air.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Sciron, of course!" He laughed.

"Chiron?" Jason puzzled. "Like the centaur?" The bandit rolled his eyes.

"_Sky-_ron! Son of Poseidon!" Hazel glanced at Jason. _Other brother. _"Thief extraordinaire! All-around awesome guy! But that's not important! I'm not seeing any valuables!" He waggled his guns, as if to remind them of their presence.

"We've got valuables." Hazel assured. "But how do we know you'll let us go afterwards?"

"Oh, they _always_ ask that. I promise you, I swear on the River Styx, that as soon as you surrender what I want, I will _not_ shoot you. I will send you right back down that cliff." Hazel exchanged another look with Jason, coming to a silent agreement- the phrasing of that promise sat in their stomachs like a lump of ice.

"What if we fought you?" Jason asked. "You can't attack us and hold the ship hostage at the same-" BANG! BANG!

On the Argo, Frank yelped and stumbled backwards. Where he had been standing, just between his feet, smoked a small, blackened hole. Leo drew binoculars from his belt, frantically scanning for their clifftop friends.

"They're OK!" He reported. "I think it was just warning shots! No, Lou, stay sitting." He waved at her, but she ignored him. She gripped Piper's arm, forcing herself to her feet. Her arm was wrapped around her ribs, blood had dried on her chin and just under her nose. Thankfully, she had stopped steaming now, but she looked like she was the first zombie of the apocalypse. Leo decided not to voice it.

"It's Sciron." She croaked, wincing as Piper hooked her arm about her shoulders. "He's a thief. Will trap ships… split up crews, demand their treasure… 'n' make them clean his feet."

"Clean his feet?" Frank repeated, wrinkling his nose. Louisa shook her head, looking green.

"Ya don't wanna know. But when his victims… are caught off guard by the smell… he kicks 'em off the cliff 'n'…" She motioned with her hand, drawing a line from the cliff and down, pointing to the turtle. "Chomp." She finished, inhaling shakily. She held her ribs, her head lolled towards Piper.

"Lou?"

"Mm?" Louisa stared blankly at Piper. Piper hesitated. She had wanted to ask if she was going to be alright, but the unpredictability of Percy's situation warranted no answer.

"What do we do then?" She nodded up at the cliffs. "They can't be chomped." Louisa blinked, squinting. "What do we do?" Piper prompted, trying to whittle the panic from her tone.

"Nothin'." Louisa swayed. "Can't. We make a move 'n' he kills 'em for sure, then us. Don't worry, Pipes, Hazel's got this. Otherwise that smelly ferret thing wouldn't've gone with her."

"It's a polecat." Coach pointed out.

"Don't care. It fuckin' stinks."

"I see you're feeling better."

"No, not really." She made a face at Leo. Leo stuck his tongue out and she rolled her eyes. "Pipes?"

"Yeah?"

"Can ya do me a favour?"

"What's that?"

"Throw me."

"What? No!"

"No, no. Throw me." Louisa tapped herself on the chest, making a diving motion towards the rails. "I don't think my legs work." Nervous glances batted about the crew. "What?" When no one answered, she looked to Piper. "What is it? I can deal with the turtle."

"No, it… it's not that. Um…" She anxiously twisted her hair around her finger. She found Nico staring at her. His eyes were wide, darker than she had ever seen them. She saw the tiniest head shake, his jaw set. Louisa followed Piper's gaze. Nico spoke up before she could.

"Lou, you need to rest."

"But I'm better in the water."

"I know. But it's best if you stay on the ship for now. Don't want Sciron getting the wrong idea and shooting everyone."

"Look, look!" Leo exclaimed, waving his hand at them so quickly, it blurred. He was watching the clifftop again. Through his binoculars, he saw Sciron's feet and gagged. They were puffy, wrinkled and white as dough. Tufts of brown hair sprouted from each misshapen toe. His toenails were jagged, green and yellow. Leo lowered the binoculars, swallowing sick. "Don't look." He managed thickly.

"Just be glad ya can't smell 'em from here."

Jason _could_ smell them. Sciron had changed one of his flintlocks into a squeezy bottle of multi-surface antibacterial and a cloth. Jason crouched before him, trying not to breathe. He squirted the cleaning fluid, eyes watering. He wiped at Sciron's big toe with the rag, turning aside to gag. Hazel couldn't bear to watch, but she had to. Sciron moved so quickly, she almost missed it.

The bandit slammed his foot into Jason's chest. Jason tumbled backwards, arms flailing and screamed as he fell over the cliff edge. Just before he hit the water, the turtle rose up and swallowed him in one bite, sinking below the surface.

Alarm bells rang on the Argo. Hazel heard Piper wailing all the way from the ship. The sound sent chills over Hazel, nearly casting her focus away. She forced her mind to split into two parts- one to play her role, the other to concentrate on her task. She glowered at Sciron, clenching her fists.

"What did you _do_?" She screamed, outraged.

"Oh dear…" Sciron had the nerve to sound sad, but she sensed a grin behind his bandanna. "That was an accident, I promise."

"My friends will _kill_ you now!"

"They can try." Sciron shrugged. "I mean, the only one with any chance of killing me down there is my dear little sister. But she's weakened." He aimed a flintlock at her head. "Now, I do believe you have time to wash my other foot! My turtle is full now, he doesn't want you too. You'll be quite safe. Unless you refuse." He jiggled the gun, eyes glittering with a smirk. Hazel hesitated, letting him see her anguish. She couldn't agree too easily; he wouldn't buy her charade otherwise.

"Don't kick me." She pleaded, half-sobbing. His eyes twinkled. This was exactly what he expected. She was broken and helpless. Sciron, the son of Poseidon, had won again.

She could not believe this trampy-footed bandit had the same father as Percy and Louisa. Learning Arion was a son of the sea god was surprising enough, but now _this_? Her stomach broiled with disgust. She looked one last time in his eyes, feeling something click at the back of her mind. There was a hard edge to the sea green she knew so well elsewhere. Not like Percy's eyes- powerful, but gentle and helpful. The kind of sea that sped ships safely to distant lands.

No, they were like Louisa's. The kind of sea that battered relentlessly at the coastline until it crumbled away. The kind of sea that carried innocents from the shore and let them drown. Or smashed ships and killed entire crews without mercy. The kind of sea that did not care for your roots or your history or your future; it absorbed you with the expanse of a force that covered two thirds of the planet. Hazel gave silent thanks that Louisa fought on their side.

She snatched up the spray bottle Jason had dropped.

"Sciron," she growled, "your feet are the _least_ disgusting thing about you." His green eyes hardened, but no terror gripped her. She had seen worse on the Argo. Worse was _still_ on the Argo.

"Just clean." He ordered. She knelt, trying to ignore the smell. She shuffled to one side, forcing Sciron to adjust his stance, but she kept the image of the sea behind her in her mind. She kept shuffling, pretending to examine his foot. "Just get on with it!" He barked furiously. Hazel concealed a smile- she had turned him a hundred and eighty degrees. But he still saw the water in front of him.

She started to clean, battling the urge to retch. When the kick came, she flew backwards but didn't go far. No more than a few yards. Sciron's eyes widened with surprise. "But…" The world shifted. The illusion melted. Sciron whirled round, twisting this way and that sharply, stammering in confusion. "How-?"

"Stand and deliver." Hazel smirked. Jason swooped out of the sky, right over her head. He body-slammed the bandit off the cliff.

Sciron screamed as he tumbled. He fired his flintlock wildly, hitting nothing. Hazel got to her feet. She reached the cliff's edge in time to see the turtle snap his master from the air. Jason grinned at her.

"Hazel, that was _amazing_. Seriously… Hazel? Hey, Hazel?" She collapsed to her knees, suddenly dizzy. She could hear cheering from the ship. Jason stood over her, but he was moving in slow motion. His outline was blurry, his voice nothing but static.

Frost crept over the rocks and grass around her. The hill of summoned riches melted back into the earth. Mist swirled around her. Panic bristled in her chest, _something went wrong_.

"No, Hazel." A deep voice said behind her. "You have done well." She turned, heart hammering, looking up into the face of her father. Roman style- his dark hair was close-cropped, his pale angular face clean-shaven. His tunic and toga were of black wool, embroidered with threads of gold. Faces of tormented souls strained and shifted in the fabric. The edge of his toga was lined with crimson, but the stripe rippled like a river of blood.

"What do you want?" She demanded. She wanted him to get upset, feel the pain she had felt. But he smiled, faintly, just visible.

"My daughter." He said, pride soft in his tone. "I am impressed. You've grown strong." Hazel bit her tongue, not wanting to revel in his compliment, but her eyes still stung. "I thank you. You invoked me so strongly, you allowed me to appear. Separate from my Greek counterpart, if only for a moment." Hazel wanted to protest that she hadn't invoked him. Her eyes surveyed the floor, the last of the treasure seeping away. She had tried to understand her powers, using her heritage to the fullest. Of course she had invoked him.

Pluto smoothed his toga. "When you come to my house in Epirus, you must be prepared. The dead will not welcome you. And the sorceress, Pasiphaë… she will not be as easily fooled as Sciron." The god's eyes glittered like volcanic ash. "You succeeded in your first test, but Pasiphaë intends to rebuild her domain. It will endanger _all_ demigods. Unless you stop at her the House of Hades…" His form flickered. For a moment, she saw a bearded man in Greek robes with a golden laurel wreath in his hair. Skeletal hands broke through the earth at his feet. Pluto gritted his teeth, scowling. "Time is short." He said. The skeletal hands disappeared as his Roman form stabilised. "The Doors of Death are at the lowest level of the Necromanteion. You must make the sorceress see what she wants to see. You are right. That is the secret to all magic." He sighed. "It will not be easy in her maze."

"What maze?"

"You will understand." He promised, inclining his head. "And, Hazel Levesque…" He said it carefully, as if testing her full name, "you will not believe me, but I am proud of your strength. Sometimes… sometimes the only way I can care for my children is to keep my distance." She wanted to throw something at him, his excuse as feeble as any other dead-beat dads', but something in his tone stopped her. He sounded… sad, almost. Regretful.

"When I met Thanatos…" She swallowed a lump in her throat. "He told me I… I wasn't on your list of rogue spirits to capture. He said… maybe that's why you were keeping your distance. If you acknowledged me, you'd have to take me back to the Underworld." Pluto raised a brow at her. "You're here." She continued, trying to not to cry. "Why don't you return me to the dead?" His form started to fade, but he smiled. Hazel couldn't tell if he was still sad or pleased.

"Perhaps that is not what _I_ want to see, Hazel. Perhaps I was never here." He nodded at the ship. "Now go to your friends. Say hello to Nico for me."


	7. Chapter 7

**To JasonGraceIsDead- thank you! ^_^**

**Pre-warning- there's quite a bit in this chapter unchanged, but I did my best to shorten it/make it slightly more interesting. Sorry!**

* * *

The night shift. Leo was tinkering with the thingamajig that got them in the air, so, for now, they stayed on the water. Which meant Louisa was on the night shift. Leo had promised her it wouldn't be for much longer, he just needed another half hour or so. He had said that five times already. Louisa wasn't sure how running around like a headless chicken helped fix the flying stuff, but Leo was a ball of energy and if he didn't find a release for it, things caught on fire. Mostly himself. And his clothes.

She was bored. Aside from a few curious hippocampi and a blue whale slamming his tail into the water in greeting, Louisa hadn't had anything to do. She might have seen something slinking through the water a few hundred metres away, but it never returned and she couldn't sense anything. Maybe they just weren't interesting enough.

"Done!" Leo proudly claimed nearly two hours later. Louisa was falling asleep standing up. She was now at the wheel, arms wrapped around the prongs to keep herself upright. Leo tapped her on the shoulder and she wiped at her mouth. He grinned. "Go and get some sleep. Uh, send Jason up first. I'm sure he's more than happy to take over."

"You need ta sleep too."

"I'll crash once we're in the air. Promise." He added at her glare.

"Don't make me come 'n' find ya, Valdez."

"Yes ma'am." Leo saluted. She rolled her eyes and stumbled off. Her ribs ached, aggravated more so by leaning on the wheel. Whatever Percy had done this time, she was going to get him tenfold for it.

She stopped short a few feet from her cabin. Nico stood at her door, hand raised to knock, but frozen, as if he had forgotten how to.

"Nico?" He startled, lurching away from the door as though it had burned him. "You OK?" He bit his lip, looking down at his feet. She saw Leo had lent him some of his pyjamas, but they were brightly-coloured and superhero themed, only seeping the colour more from Nico.

Nico shook his head, hugging himself. Louisa advanced slowly. He wouldn't look up, shivering. She stopped a couple of paces from him, opening her door without looking away from him. "Wanna come in 'n' talk about it?" She didn't wait for an answer, venturing in. She sat on her bunk. Nico followed almost a minute later, walking with hardly a sound, sitting on the very edge of her bed. Louisa considered him sidelong. He was still shivering. Tears had dried and stained his cheeks, his eyes were red, staring unseeingly at her floor. His hair was a dishevelled mess, he kept sniffing. She flicked her hand, a whisk of sea air closing the door.

She said nothing, standing and pulling her quilt around him. His feet were bare and icy, so she dug out a pair of her fluffy socks. She slid them on his feet, moved to her nightstand. She poured him a glass of water, taking her seat next to him. She held the glass on her thigh, waiting for him to take it. His hand trembled when it emerged from the quilt, but he managed half a dozen or so sips on his own.

Louisa set the glass on the nightstand, tucking the quilt back around him.

The ship creaked and groaned as it rose into the air. They could hear Frank snoring, Piper talking in her sleep. Someone stumbled past the door, muttering- Jason, his turn. Away from the sea, Louisa's energy gradually depleted. She was trying not to blink, her eyes getting heavier each time she did. Nico sniffed, wiping his face on the bedding. He made to stand, mumbling apologies. Louisa stuck her arm out, knocking him back into sitting down. She readjusted the quilt, smoothing his hair back from his forehead.

"Can… can…" He bundled himself in the quilt, just the top half of his head visible now. "Can I stay here?" His voice was muffled, his eyes closed. He bowed his head, as if bracing for a rebuttal. Louisa patted his head, messed his hair.

"Course." She smiled. Obsidian eyes met hers, tentatively grateful. He wiggled his way onto the bed, as close to the wall as he could get. He lay on his side, his back to her. Louisa shifted back a little, turning to sit parallel to him. He didn't fall asleep straight away. He resisted for quite some time. Louisa sat, one hand in her lap, the other toying with his hair absent-mindedly. Slowly, he stopped shivering. His breathing gradually evened out and his eyes closed. Louisa watched his face carefully, hand on his shoulder. Too young to have that worry in his forehead, too tragic for more tears in the corners of his eyes. She wanted nothing more than to pull the weight from his shoulders, but it wasn't a burden she could take. He had to share.

She adjusted the lamp on the nightstand. It cast a soft, silvery glow about the room, dispelling shadows. The effect of the lampshade rippled like moonlight on water. She lay down, rolling onto her side so they were back to back. Her room was devoid of monsters. His mind was not. He would need her when he woke up.

* * *

Hazel stood with Leo at the helm the following morning. He was busy, tinkering with this and that, not really paying her much heed. Hazel didn't mind it, she didn't really want to talk to anyone. But she didn't want to sit alone in her cabin either. So she stayed put, watching Leo potter about, mumbling to himself, blurting out random lyrics to the songs he had put on- oh, what was the band? Something Rocks? Falling Rocks? Did it even have anything to do with rocks?

_Whatever_ he called them, he seemed most insistent on playing them on repeat. Louisa came in to complain a couple of times, but upon seeing he was invested in his latest project, she left him be. She ruffled Hazel's hair with a proud, sisterly smile.

"Nice work, shrimp."

"Thanks, Lou." Hazel pushed her hand away good-naturedly. "You feeling any better?"

"A bit. I've got bruises on my ribs," she pointed at both side of her ribcage, wincing at the movement. "'N' more bruises on my leg. Pretty sure I can taste snakes now, so that's cool." Her expression suggested otherwise. Hazel smiled. "Don't get a twin brother with a magic connection, Hazel, it sucks."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Good." Louisa nodded once. Leo dashed past behind them babbling in rapid fire Spanish and fumbling with his scrolls. Louisa sighed. "I'm gonna get the prat somethin' ta eat. Make sure he don't blow himself up while I'm gone."

"Not even a little bit?" Hazel asked innocently. Louisa hummed in thought.

"Yeah, why not?" She shrugged. "He's fireproof, I'm sure he'll be fine." She toddled off. Leo startled Hazel by resting his elbow on her shoulder. He propped his chin on the back of his hand and grinned.

"Sup." Hazel quirked a brow at him. "For the record, I _would _be fine. Physically. Maybe not emotionally." He scratched his chin. "What was I doing?"

"I don't know."

"Cool." He looked around, twirling a spanner in his fingers. He bounced away, humming to himself. "Oh, hey, that's not good." He smacked the intercom button. "Jason, buddy, some venti pals have arrived for you, please and thank you."

* * *

Jason fell asleep on the job. He forgot to hold his breath when he slashed through a venti, which was bad. They created a vacuum when they disintegrated, so it was best for Jason if he held his breath. Instead, the air was sucked right from his lungs and the pressure in his inner ears dropped so quickly, he passed out. He fell straight into a dream. Somewhere in the back of his subconscious, a little voice was kicking out complaints.

In the dream, he found himself on the roof of a tall building. The night sky framed the Manhattan skyline around him. Clouds gathered around the Empire State Building a few blocks away. Lightning flashed, the air was rich with the scent of oncoming rain. Lights at the top of the skyscraper flickered from orange to purple, each colour fighting for dominance.

On the roof of the building he stood upon, he saw he wasn't alone. He stood with his old Camp Jupiter comrades. An assortment of demigods in combat armour. Their Imperial gold weapons and shields glinted in the dark. He saw Dakota, Nathan, Leila and Marcus. Octavian stood to one side, thin and pale. His eyes were red-rimmed from sleeplessness. A string of sacrificial stuffed animals looped around his waist, his white augur robes draped over a purple T-shirt and cargo pants.

Reyna stood in the centre of the line, her metal dogs, Aurum and Argentum at her side. She looked tired. Others may not notice, but he had worked with her for long enough; he recognised the weariness darkening her eyes, the tightness in her shoulders under her armour straps. Her dark hair was wet, like she had taken a hasty shower.

The Romans stared at the roof-access door expectantly. When the door finally opened, two people emerged. One was a satyr- Coach had taught him the difference at Camp Half-Blood, on pain of death. This satyr wore a green Nature Conservancy T-shirt with pictures of endangered animals. Nothing covered his shaggy legs and hooves. He had a bushy goatee that he pulled at nervously, a Rasta-style cap contained his curly brown hair and a set of reed pipes dangled around his neck.

Next to him, was a red-headed girl- Camp Half-Blood's Oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Her hair was long and frizzy. She wore a simple plain white blouse and jeans covered with hand-drawn designs. She tapped a blue plastic hairbrush against her thigh. She stepped forward, looking at Reyna.

"You got my message." She said. Octavian snorted.

"That's the only reason you made it this far, _graceus_. I hope you've come to discuss the terms of your surrender." Reyna shot him a warning glare. Octavian scowled. "At least search them!"

"No need." Reyna said coolly, studying Rachel. "Do you bring weapons?"

"I hit Kronos in the eye with this." Rachel smirked, flourishing her hairbrush. "Otherwise, no." The Romans exchanged questioning looks, but no one asked Rachel for details. Reyna nodded at Grover.

"I thought you were coming alone."

"This is Grover Underwood." Rachel said. "He's a leader of the Council."

"What _council_?" Octavian demanded.

"Cloven Elders, man." Grover tapped his fingers on his reed pipes anxiously, but the look in his eyes displayed more steel in his spirit than he let on. "Seriously, don't you Romans have nature and trees and stuff? I've got some news you need to hear. Plus, I'm a card-carrying protector. I'm here to, you know, protect Rachel." He tipped his head in the red-head's direction, giving a simple smile. Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile too, particularly as a steady scarlet mottled Octavian's face.

"But no weapons?" Reyna asked.

"Just the pipes." Grover said wistfully. "Percy always said my cover of 'Born to be Wild' should count as a dangerous weapon, but I don't think it's _that_ bad." Octavian sneered.

"Another friend of Percy Jackson's. That all _I_ need to hear." Reyna held her hand up for silence. Her dogs sniffed the air, but remained calm at her side.

"Our guests speak the truth. Be warned, Rachel and Grover, if you start to lie, this conversation will not go well for you. Speak." Rachel delved a crumpled bit of paper from her pocket.

"We got a message. From Annabeth." Jason felt his heart skip a beat- _how?_ Annabeth was in _Tartarus_!

Reyna took the note. As she read, her mouth parted in shock. She looked up at Rachel once done, struggling to compute the contents.

"Is this a joke?"

"I wish." Rachel sighed. "They're really in Tartarus."

"How-?"

"I don't know. The note appeared in the sacrificial fire at our dining pavilion. That's Annabeth's handwriting and she asked for you, by name."

"Tartarus?" Octavian's eyes fixed hungrily on the note. Reyna passed it over, suppressing a frown. Octavian muttered as he read: "Rome, Arachne, Athena- _Athena Parthenos_?" He looked around in outrage. "A Greek trick!" He declared when no one contradicted him. "The Greeks are _infamous_ for their tricks!" Reyna took the note back, reading it over once more.

"Why ask me of this?"

"Because Annabeth is wise." Rachel smiled, as if it were simple. "She believes you can do this, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano." Jason hitched a breath. Nobody _ever_ used Reyna's full name. Reyna _hated_ telling people what it was. Jason had said it aloud once, just trying to pronounce it correctly. He honestly thought she was going to rip his head off.

"How did you-?" Reyna scowled.

"You… you mean your initials are RA-RA?" Grover asked, pressing his lips together when Reyna's hand drifted to her dagger. "But that's not important!" He continued quickly. "We wouldn't have risked coming here if we didn't trust Annabeth's instincts. A Roman leader returning the most important Greek statue to Camp Half-Blood- it could prevent a war!"

"This isn't a trick." Rachel added, cutting Octavian a look. "We're not lying. Ask your dogs." The greyhounds didn't react. Reyna stroked Aurum's head as she thought.

"The Athena Parthenos…" She mused quietly. "So the legend is true."

"Reyna!" Octavian cried. "You can't seriously be considering this! Even if the statue still exists, you see what they're doing! We're on the verge of attacking them, destroying the stupid Greeks once and for all- and they concoct this ridiculous scheme to divert your attention! They want to send you to your death!" The other Romans grumbled, glaring at their visitors.

Rachel faced the augur. Her eyes simmered dangerously, but she held herself back.

"Octavian, legacy of Apollo, you should take this more seriously. Even Romans respected your father's Oracle of Delphi." Octavian scoffed.

"If _you're_ the Oracle of Delphi, then _I'm_ Emperor Nero!" The wind shifted. It swirled around the Romans with a hissing sound, dragging in a reptilian smell. Rachel glowed in a green aura, as if hit by a soft emerald spotlight. Then the wind moved on, the aura died. Octavian balked, the Romans shifted uneasily. Rachel allowed herself a small smirk.

"It's your decision. I have no specific prophecy to offer, just that I see the Athena Parthenos on Half-Blood Hill. I see _you_ bringing it back, Reyna. Only a Roman can return it and restore peace and Annabeth chose you."

"And why," Reyna's fingers traced the handle of her dagger, "would the Romans want peace after your ship attacked our city?"

"To avoid this war." Rachel replied calmly. "To reconcile the gods' Greek and Roman sides. We have to work together to defeat Gaia."

"According to Percy Jackson, the battle with Gaia will be fought in the ancient lands." Reyna raised a brow. "In Greece."

"That's where the giants are." Rachel agreed. "Whatever ritual the giants are planning to wake Gaia, I sense it will happen in Greece. But…" She sighed. "Our problems aren't limited to Greece. That's why I brought Grover to talk to you."

"Yeah, see, over the last few months, I've been talking to satyrs and nature spirits across the continent. They're all saying the same thing- Gaia is stirring. I mean, she is _right_ on the edge of consciousness. She's whispering in the minds of naiads, trying to turn them. She's causing earthquakes and uprooting dryads' trees. She's appeared in human form in a dozen different places, scaring the horns of some of my friends. In Colorado, a giant stone fist rose out of a mountain and swatted some Party Ponies."

"Party Ponies?" Reyna repeated with a frown. Rachel just shook her head.

"The point is Gaia will rise _everywhere_. No place will be safe from the battle. And we know that her first targets are going to be the demigod camps."

"Speculation." Octavian spat. "A distraction. The Greeks fear our attack. They're trying to confuse us." Reyna ignored him, twisting the silver ring she always wore. It had the sword and torch symbols of her mother, Bellona, emblazoned on it.

"Marcus," she said, "bring Scipio from the stables."

"Reyna, no!" Octavian protested. Reyna faced the Greeks.

"I will do this for Annabeth, for the hope of peace between our camps. But do _not_ think I've forgotten the attack on Camp Jupiter. _You_ declared war, not us. Now, leave." Grover made to protest, but Rachel tugged him out. Octavian whipped round to glare at Reyna. She cut over him. "I am praetor of this legion. I judge this to be in the best interest of Rome."

"To get yourself _killed_? To break our oldest laws and travel to the ancient lands? How will you even find their ship, assuming you survive the journey?"

"I will find them." Reyna said resolutely. "If they are sailing for Greece, I know a place Jason will stop. To face the ghosts of the House of Hades, he will need an army. There is only one place where he can get that sort of help." A chill ran down Jason's spine. The building seemed to shift under his feet as his mind span. He recalled a promise he and Reyna had made, years ago. He knew where to go.

"This is insanity." Octavian muttered. "We're already under attack. We must take the offensive! Those hairy dwarfs have been stealing our supplies, sabotaging our scouting parties- you _know_ the Greeks sent them!"

"Perhaps." Reyna mused. "But you will _not_ launch an attack without my orders. Gather all the allies you can. If you catch those dwarfs, you have my blessing to dispatch them to Tartarus. But you do _not_ attack Camp Half-Blood until I return." Octavian narrowed his eyes.

"While you're gone, the augur is the senior officer. I will be in charge." Reyna looked like she was swallowing lumps of hot wax, but she inclined her head.

"I know. But you have my orders. You all heard them." She scanned the faces of the centurions, daring them to question her. When no confrontation arose, she swept from the room, purple cloak billowing, her dogs at her heels.

Octavian turned to the centurions.

"Gather all the senior officers. I want a meeting as soon as Reyna's left on her fool's quest. There will be a few changes to the legion's plans." One of the centurions opened his mouth to respond, but for some reason, he spoke in Piper's voice.

"_WAKE UP_!"

Jason's eyes snapped open and he saw the ocean's surface hurtling towards him.


	8. Chapter 8

**To Guest- yes it is!**

**To JasonGraceIsDead- I'm saying nothing O:)**

* * *

They hadn't seen him fall until the last second. There was no time for Frank to transform to catch him. Only Piper's quick thinking and charmspeak saved him. She had yelled _WAKE UP_ with so much force, he felt he had been hit with defibrillator paddles. With a millisecond to spare, he summoned the winds and avoided becoming a floating patch of demigod grease on the Adriatic.

Once on board- and once his heart stopped beating a million a minute- he pulled Leo to one side and suggested a quick course correction.

"Weird vacation spot," Leo shrugged, "but you're the boss."

"So he likes to think." Louisa snarked from behind. Jason turned to see her wicked grin melt into something innocent, but still as devilish.

Now, they sat in the mess hall. Jason felt _so_ awake, he doubted he would sleep for a week. His hands were jittery, he couldn't stop tapping his feet or jiggling his leg. He imagined this was how Leo felt all the time, except Leo managed it through crazy inventions and bad jokes.

Considering his dream, Jason didn't feel like joking. While they ate lunch, Jason told them about his midair vision. They were quiet long enough for Coach to finish a peanut butter and banana sandwich, ceramic plate included. Louisa was watching him with gross fascination.

The ship creaked as it sailed. The remaining oars were still out of alignment from the giant turtle attack. Festus creaked and squeaked through the speakers every so often, reporting the autopilot status in the weird machine language only Leo could understand.

"A note from Annabeth," Piper shook her head in amazement, "I don't see how that's possible, but if it is-"

"She's alive." Leo said. "Thank the gods and pass the hot sauce."

"What does that mean?" Frank frowned. Leo wiped chip crumbs off his face.

"It means pass the hot sauce, Zhang, I'm hungry." Frank slid the jar of salsa over, Louisa snatched it before Leo's hand was even close to it.

"So Reyna's comin' ta find us?" She asked, dipping chips in the salsa and keeping Leo at bay with her elbow.

"It's taboo," Frank worried, "coming to the ancient lands. She'll be stripped of her praetorship."

"If she lives." Hazel said, starting when Louisa's eyes locked on her, glowering. Sciron flashed through Hazel's mind. She quickly stomped it down. "I just mean… it was hard enough for us to make it this far and we've got the Argo, and each other. Reyna will be alone."

"She'll do it." Louisa defied. Leo nabbed the jar from her while she was distracted.

"How though?" He asked. "It's not like she's got a cool warship- didn't you say the Roman's navy was, like, a rowboat or something?"

"Yeah," Hazel drummed her fingers on the table, "we kind of sunk that." She and Frank gave sheepish smiles. Louisa slumped back in her chair, rubbing at her face.

"No, Reyna's got this. She's as stubborn as I am, she'll do it."

"OK, cool." Leo nodded, looking to Jason. "So what do you think, boss-man? What next?" Jason didn't answer, staring at the table surface, a million miles away. Leo coughed into his fist. "Um, _helllooooo_, Argo II to Jason! Come in, Jason!" Jason blinked, pulling himself from his thoughts with a shake of the head.

"Yeah, sorry." His fingers strayed to the groove Sciron's bullet had left in his hair. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey, no doubt. But I'd never bet against Reyna. If anyone can make it, she will."

"But how is she supposed to find us?" Piper asked, stirring her soup. Frank raised his hand. Louisa reached over to high five him, laughing at his baffled expression.

"Can't you just send her one of those Iris-messages?"

"They're not working very well." Coach grumbled. "Horrible reception. Every night, I swear, I could _kick_ that rainbow goddess…" He trailed off, face flooding bright red.

"Coach!" Leo grinned. "Who've you been calling every night, you old goat?"

"No one!" Hedge snapped, positively beetroot now. "Nothing! I just meant-"

"He means we've already tried." Hazel chipped in. The satyr gave her a grateful look. "Some magic is interfering, maybe Gaia. Contacting the Romans is even harder. I think they're shielding themselves." Frank tapped his finger on the table.

"I don't suppose Reyna has a cell phone? Nah, never mind. She'd probably have bad reception on a pegasus flying over the Atlantic."

"She'll find us." Jason said. "She mentioned something in my dream- she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I… I'd forgotten about it actually, but she's right. It's a place we need to visit." Piper leaned towards him, her caramel braid falling over her shoulder. She fixed him with her multi-coloured eyes and his brain forgot how to work.

"And where is this place?" She asked.

"A, uh… a town called Split."

"Split." Piper repeated.

"Um, yeah."

"Pipes, stop Aprhoditein' him. His brain might melt outta his nose." Louisa pursed her lips, envisioning it. "Actually, carry on."

"I think we're getting close." Leo rubbed at his jaw. He tipped his head back. "Festus!" He called. "How's it going up there, buddy?" Festus creaked and steamed. "He says maybe ten minutes to the harbour. Though I still don't get why you want to go to Croatia. Especially a town called _Split_. I mean, you name your city_ Split_, you gotta figure it's a warning, right? You know, to _split_. Like naming your city _Get Out_!"

"If I had a city, I'd call it Fuck Off." Louisa smiled.

"Why are we going to Croatia?" Hazel asked.

"Hazel ignored me, she ain't allowed in Fuck Off."

"Well," Leo pushed aside his chips and hot sauce, "we've technically been in Croatian territory for the past day or so. All that coastline we've been sailing past is _it_, but I guess back in the Roman times it was called… what did you say it was, Jason? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia." Nico said, making Jason jump.

"That… is _nowhere_ close ta 'bodacious', Valdez."

"I'm aware. And I was _nowhere_ close to asking your opinion." Leo stuck his tongue out. Louisa copied.

"Croatia used to be Dalmatia." Nico said. "A major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's Palace, don't you?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded. "I need to go there, because that's where Reyna will go first." He glanced around at them, his gaze momentarily lingering on Piper. She smiled, but that just made him more nervous. "We, um… Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian." He said. "We both kind of idolised the guy as a leader. We talked about visiting his palace. Of course, it was impossible. No one could ever travel to the ancient lands. But still, we made a pact. If we ever did travel out here, that's where we'd go."

"Diocletian…" Louisa repeated. "He didn't like Christians, did he?"

"No, he persecuted them."

"The nuns at St Agnes taught us that he was a huge villain." Hazel frowned. "Right along with Nero and Caligula."

"Aha, _booties_." Louisa snickered.

"What?" Hazel quizzed. Louisa waved it away and Hazel focused back on Jason. "Why would you idolise Diocletian?"

"He was a good ruler. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. His parents were former slaves- well, his mom was anyway. Demigods know he was a son of Jupiter- the last demigod to rule Rome."

"Challenge accepted." Louisa said, cracking her knuckles on the edge of the table.

"He was also the first emperor to ever retire," Jason continued as if she hadn't spoken, "you know_, peacefully_. He gave up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement palace. The town of Split grew up around..." He faltered when he saw Leo, who was mimicking taking notes with an air pencil.

"Go on, Professor Grace!" He said, wide-eyed. "I wanna get an A on the test!"

"Shut up, Leo."

"Aww, my three favourite words."

"So why is his palace so special?" Piper asked, sipping a spoonful of soup. Nico leaned over and plucked a grape. Louisa's eyes hardened and she threw the bunch at him. She flicked her fingers from her eyes to his, _fuckin' eat those, ya little shit_. Nico cast his eyes heavenward, but obliged.

"The palace is said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"And he was a son of Jupiter, like me." Jason added. Louisa gasped, clapping her hands to her face.

"_You're_ a son of _Jupiter_? Oh, wowee, can I get an autograph?"

"Shut up, Lou."

"Aw, yes," she high-fived Leo, "two shut-ups in less than a minute. New record, Grace." Jason was very tempted to say it again, but her eyes glittered with mirth, so he went to ignoring her. A bread roll bounced off his head and she swore at him.

"Anyway, Diocletian's tomb was destroyed centuries ago. Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find his ghost and ask where he was buried… well, according to the legends, his spectre was buried with him."

"Ah, _that_ legend." Nico smiled, looking a little too pleased about _that_ legend.

"What legend?" Hazel asked.

"Supposedly, the sceptre could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

"OK, _now_ I'm interested." Leo nodded. "You should've started with that, Professor Grace." Jason wrinkled his nose at him. "I mean, who doesn't want a booty-kicking army of pagan zombies on our side anyway?"

"Not sure I'd have put it that way," Jason muttered, "but yeah."

"How else would ya have put it?" Louisa puzzled. "Ass-kickin', maybe." She snorted, amused. "_Booty_."

"See, when I say it, you take the piss. When _you_ said it earlier, you thought it was hilarious."

"Ah, nah, different booties."

"Right?" Leo fired a thousand invisible question marks her way, but she hardly paid any attention.

"So, how long is it gonna take ta get this sceptre thingy? May I remind you I've got an idiot in Tartarus that I'm magically connected to 'n' it hurts?"

"It won't take long." Jason assured. "It's worth a try to get the sceptre and I can leave a message for Reyna-"

"Tell her Lou says hi." Louisa grinned.

"The sceptre could make a huge difference." Nico nodded. "I'll come with you. Diocletian's ghost may appear for a son of Jupiter, but you'll need me to talk to him."

"I'll come too." Piper offered, squeezing Jason's hand.

"No, any other demigods might _spook _him."

"Was that a pun, cuz?"

"Maybe."

"There's hope for ya yet!" The ship's bell sounded. Festus creaked and whirred over the loudspeaker.

"We've arrived." Leo announced. "Time to Split."

"Ugh," Frank groaned, "can we leave Valdez in Croatia?"

"Temptin' but no."

"I thought you loved me!"

"Nah."

* * *

Louisa pulled Jason aside just before they departed. She didn't really look at him, worriedly watching Nico. "Keep an eye on him for me." She said. Jason saw the crease between her eyebrows, she picked at her lip. When he didn't respond, she glanced up at him, frowning.

"I will." He promised. "Try not to kill anyone why we're gone." Amusement lightened her features.

"No guarantees."

"I expected as much." He shook his head. He saw her focus had rediverted to Nico. He was talking to Hazel, nodding and letting her fuss with the collar of his jacket. His shoulders were tense, his hand rested on the handle of his sword. Jason knew a little of Nico's past, his blaming Percy for his sister's death, the rumour of his crush on Annabeth, how he spent more time with the dead than the living, trapped for seventy years in a magic hotel somewhere. Jason understood Louisa's concern, could sense her dithering next to him. He patted her head, successfully drawing her attention back to him, and smiling when she smacked his hand away, glowering. "I won't let anything happen to him." She nodded once, folding her arms.

Nico looked round. His eyes hardened defensively seeing them side by side and watching him. Louisa grinned.

"See, I told ya, Jay. That grumpy look is stuck on his face."

"Aaah," Jason played along, "yes, I see what you mean." Louisa stuck her fingers in the corners of her mouth, pulling down, sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes. Nico turned his nose up, shaking his head while Hazel laughed.

"We're here!" Leo called from the helm. The Argo II had anchored in the bay along with six or seven cruise ships. The mortals didn't pay any attention to the trireme. Louisa moved forward to playfully bonk Nico on the head.

"Don't die."

"There go my weekend plans." He sighed. Hazel cast him sidelong look, aghast. The corners of his mouth tipped up, not a smile. Hazel narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, shooting Louisa a scowling glance. Louisa slugged Nico's arm for good measure. She turned, looking up at Jason. Sea green eyes flashed him a warning. Jason nodded and she sauntered off to torment Leo.

"You look happy." Leo remarked, hands buried in a section of the control panel. Piper stood next to him, toying with Frank's Chinese handcuffs.

"I'm always happy." Louisa retorted, scrunching her nose disapprovingly. Leo smirked lopsidedly. Piper squished the handcuffs, humming to herself. Leo ducked into the panel, clattering about somewhere near the floor. "What's he doin'?"

"I don't know, he came out with a bunch of words I don't know, this is his fourth part of the controls he's tinkered in and then he said something about that turtle too, so I just left him to it. It's easier."

"It's lazy." Leo's voice came from inside the panel. Louisa poked his back, digging her finger in by his spine and making him jolt. She laughed when there was a _clonk_ and he straightened, rubbing at his head. He pouted at her. "I'm going off you."

"I get that a lot." Louisa shrugged. Hazel wandered in, nervously smoothing down her shirt, fiddling with the hem. "You alright?"

"Yes, I don't think Nico's too happy though. I saw Jason grab him and fly them over a wall." Louisa snickered.

"Yeah, he's gonna be _thrilled_ 'bout that." Louisa itched at her hands. Leo was already back in the panel. Piper freed herself from the Chinese handcuffs only to do it all over again. Hazel pressed her lips together, not quite looking Louisa in the eye.

Eventually, she spoke up.

"Can I… borrow you for a minute, Lou?"

"I can manage fifty-nine seconds. Yes." She added at Hazel's blank look. She followed her out, down to the mess hall. Frank was playing ping pong against Coach, except that Coach kept eating the ping pong balls every time they got too close to his face.

"Coach, that's sixteen now!"

"They're good! You should try some!"

"Um, I'll pass. Thanks." Frank waved at the girls as they sat at the table. Hazel waved back, Louisa nodded. They sat on adjoining sides, close enough for their shoulders to bump. Hazel bowed her head.

"Nico went to your cabin last night," she began in low tones, "was he OK?" Louisa made a face.

"Nightmare, I think."

"Did… did he say anything?"

"No, not really." Hazel clasped her hands, intertwining her fingers. She shifted in her seat. "Ya wonderin' why he came ta me instead of you?" She nodded, biting her lip. "He don't want you ta worry about him, Hazel."

"I do though. I… I want to help him, but… I don't know how. He clams up. I can hardly get him to eat, but you can. He won't come to me with nightmares, but he goes to you. How do you do it?" Hazel looked at her imploringly. Louisa bit the inside of her cheek, seeing the glisten of tears in her cousin's eyes.

"I've known Nico for years, H. I… he's been through a lot." Louisa tapped her fingers on her arm. "I can't tell ya all of it," Hazel nodded, a little annoyed, but understanding, "but don't think that him comin' ta me means he don't want you around."

"What was Bianca like?"

"I never met her."

"Has he told you about her?"

"Bits." Louisa nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. "I know that she joined the Hunters, just after they got ta Camp Half-Blood. She looked after Nico, but goin' ta Camp, findin' the Hunters, it gave her a chance ta be herself." She watched Frank serve, Coach wolfed down the ball and Frank threw down his paddle. "Except, she went on that quest. 'N' didn't come back." She sighed. "I've asked Percy about it, he won't give me the full story, but he blames himself. Nico blamed him too. Maybe still does a bit, but he's had a bit more time ta get his head together."

"Nico was looking for her when he found me."

"Yeah, he said. I'm glad he found ya, Hazel."

"Me too. I just wish he found Bianca too."

"She chose to be reborn." Louisa said carefully. Hazel looked at her hands, pressing her thumbs together.

"Thank you. For looking after him all this time." Hazel reached out, squeezing Louisa's hand. "I know he thinks of you as his sister." Louisa smiled.

"I seem ta be pickin' up brothers everywhere I go."

"You love it." Hazel grinned.

"Eh, sometimes. Coach, don't eat that!" The satyr froze, prepared to take a large bite from the ping pong paddle.

"I'm hungry!"

"Then eat a plate or somethin', leave the ping pong alone!" Frank confiscated the paddle. Coach huffed and stomped off. "Ugh, satyrs. So touchy." Louisa rubbed at her eyes. "I'm gonna go 'n' make sure he don't make Leo do, like, a thousand push-ups or somethin'."

"I think I'll stay and learn this ping pong." Hazel decided, smiling at Frank.

"At least you won't eat the game."

"Aw, Zhang, ya gettin' a sense of humour!" Louisa grinned. Frank blinked in surprise, raising a brow at Hazel, who nodded.

"Your grandmother would be so proud."

"Oh." Frank went pink, but he was smiling. "Thank you."


	9. Chapter 9

Jason and Nico returned with the sceptre. Nico shadow-travelled them straight onto the ping pong table, just as Hazel served. The ball hit Jason in the forehead and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, Jason!" She managed between giggles.

"Seems it." He groaned, a hand over his oncoming bruise. "I'll stick with flying." He told Nico, sitting up woozily.

"It takes some getting used to." Nico smiled grimly. He held the sceptre aloft, an ivory staff three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble roughly the size of a baseball, nestled on the backs of three gold Roman eagles. Frank and Hazel helped them down, Jason leaning on Frank's arm until the room stopped spinning. "Where's Lou?" Nico asked, not quite looking Hazel in the eye.

"Last I heard, she was challenging Coach to a push-up contest."

"Oh, poor Coach."

"Leo's enjoying it."

"I'm sure he is." Nico went off in search of them. Hazel looked to Jason.

"You OK?"

"Yep." He said thickly, giving a shaky thumbs-up.

"Going to be sick?" Hazel asked bemusedly.

"Yep."

* * *

Nico found Louisa, Leo and Coach at the helm. Coach was now the only one doing push-ups, Louisa sat cross-legged on his back. She waved when Nico came in. Coach grunted a greeting, sweating and red-faced, but determined. Leo was crouched next to them, hugging his legs, fixated on Coach's face.

"That's three-fifty, Coach." Louisa said. "Give up?"

"No." He wheezed.

"As long as your heart doesn't give out or something." Leo said, poking the satyr's cheek.

"Calling… me _old_… Valdez?" Coach demanded between pushes. Leo wisely stayed quiet. He noticed the sceptre in Nico's hand, expression slackening with surprise. "Is that the thingy?"

"Yes." Nico held it out for them to see. Coach craned his head up, squinting at it. Leo inhaled excitedly.

"Can I have a go?" He grinned.

"No."

"What, _why_?"

"Just no."

"Lou, tell him."

"You can have a go if I get a go." She smiled.

"You're not having a go either." Nico told her firmly. Louisa gaped at him. Leo snorted. "Out of all the people who could use this, you two would not be my first choice. Or any choice, for that matter. I don't have the energy for a zombie apocalypse right now."

"Who said anything about a zombie apocalypse?" Leo asked flippantly.

"He's right though." Louisa huffed. Leo's smile faded and his shoulders slouched.

"Yeah, I know. Buzzkill."

"So, how'd ya get it then? Hazel said somethin' 'bout Jason flyin' ya over a wall?"

"Yeah, I didn't like that."

"Didn't think ya would, cuz." Louisa smiled lopsidedly. "Coach, ya wanna take a break?" He defiantly shook his head, not enough breath for words. Louisa hopped up, landing just beside Nico. She studied his face carefully. Nico held her gaze a little too stubbornly for her liking, pink splodges on his cheeks. Jason arrived with the others in tow. Piper had switched out Frank's Chinese handcuffs for a Rubix Cube Leo had left lying about. She had an annoyed frown and black ink on her face, holding the cube at arm's length. Leo looked from the toy to her, slowly standing and raising his hands innocently.

"In my defence, the idea was better in my head."

"Leave it there next time." She threw the cube at him. Leo fumbled to catch it and ended up with ink on his face too. "So," she said, planting her hands on her hips, "how was Split?"

"Uneventful." Nico replied quickly. "We got the sceptre." Piper blinked.

"Yeah, but-"

"We just had to a do a boring task for the West Wind." Jason offered. "He gave us the sceptre once done." Piper looked from one to the other, sensing the same thing Louisa did- they were hiding something.

"We need to get moving." Nico continued, looking to Leo. "How soon can we set sail?"

"Give me half an hour to put the oar controls back in place and we'll go." Leo grinned, scrubbing at his face with his sleeve.

"Why aren't the oar controls in place?" Jason questioned.

"Because I was bored." Leo replied with a shrug. "And I had an idea." Piper jabbed a warning finger at him, making him yelp.

"_That_ can stay in your head too."

"OK." He squeaked. "It'll stay head stuff."

* * *

Two days from Split, Piper was debating with herself how the Mediterranean could freeze over. In July. Grey clouds swallowed the sky, the waves turned choppy. Cold drizzle layered the deck, forming ice on the rails and ropes. Nico stood next to her, hefting the staff. He kept it on him at all times, mostly because Louisa kept trying to steal it, but also to learn how to use it.

"It might be the sceptre." He said, eyes on the sky. Louisa ran and slid across the deck behind them, crashing into the forward rail with a laugh. Nico watched her do it again in the opposite direction. Upon seeing him, she beamed and motioned for him to join in. "No thank you."

"Borin'." She slid over to him and Piper, nearly toppling over the rail. Piper grabbed the back of her shirt, hauling her back.

"This isn't you making the sea all weird, is it?"

"No, don't think so." Louisa examined the waves, the ice on the rail.

"Might be this." Nico frowned at the sceptre. It definitely gave off bad vibes. The black orb on top seemed to suck the colour from its surroundings, the golden eagles glinted coldly. Maybe it could cause a freak ice storm, but the notion didn't sit right with Piper.

They had all gathered on the quarterdeck to discuss strategy as they got closer to Epirus. Other than for Louisa, it was not a good place to hang out. Louisa went back to sliding about on the wet deck, unabashed by the wind sweeping frost around her. The sea churned beneath them, bolstering Louisa's hyperactivity. Poor Hazel was green, seemingly trying to swallow a billiard ball.

"Need to-" Hazel gagged, one hand flying over her mouth. She pointed down.

"Yeah, go." Nico kissed her cheek.

"I'll walk you down." Frank offered, putting his arm around her waist and helping her down the stairs. Louisa came back, crashing into Jason and laughing.

"Ya'll gotta try this."

"I'm not risking breaking my neck." Jason said, gently detaching himself from her. Nico nodded in agreement, brushing some ice from his hair.

"I'm going to put this away," he said, frowning at the sceptre, "if it's really causing the weather, maybe taking it below deck will help."

"Sure." Jason nodded. Nico glanced at Piper and Leo, as if worried what they would say in his absence. Louisa slipped forward, throwing an arm around his shoulders and grinning.

"No, you can't have the sceptre."

"I ain't even asked yet!"

"No." Nico shook his head. She didn't let up, still holding onto him as they went below. They heard Hazel groaning and retching in her cabin, Frank's soft tones trying to soothe her. Louisa stuck her head in, making a face as Hazel threw up in a bucket.

"Give us a shout if I can do anythin'."

"Less sea?" Frank suggested.

"Zhang," Louisa deadpanned, "you've just offended me. Deeply." She shut the door. She looked at Nico, as if to say _can you believe that fucker_? Nico smiled thinly. She moved along, opening the door to her cabin. She waved him inside, kicking off her damp sneakers and throwing herself down on her bunk. Nico sat at her feet, examining the sceptre again. "Anyway," she nudged him with her foot, "what happened? Gettin' that." She pointed at the sceptre. The air darkened around him, seeping the warmth from it. From the corner of her eye, she could see the shadows writhing. She flopped back on her pillow, propping up her feet- one on his shoulder, one on his leg. Her socks were mismatched, he noticed distantly, one was Marvel themed, the other Pokémon. "_Niicccooooo_." She complained. "Don't be an ass."

"You do that just fine on your own." He grumbled.

"Jay said you had ta do a task for the West Wind, right?"

"Yes." He replied stiffly.

"'N' the West Wind works for Cupid." He tensed, shrugged her foot from his shoulder. Louisa propped herself up on her elbows. "So, I'm guessin' ya ran into him." Nico stayed quiet, an angry red flush burning through his face. "It ain't the nineteen-forties anymore, cuz."

"What… what's that got to do with anything?" He stammered, looking away.

"Be gay, do crime." She grinned. "_Actually_ bein' gay ain't a crime now, Nico. Well, not everywhere."

"I'm not-"

"Gonna lie ta ya favourite cousin anymore." She finished for him, smiling sweetly. "Yes I know."

"How-?"

"I'm clever like that."

"But-"

"I ain't gonna tell anyone. Guess that Jay knows though, right?" Nico nodded glumly, sighing. His breath clouded in front of him and the conversation stopped. Louisa took a breath, exhaling slowly, creating a cloud too. "OK, I know ya can do the cold thing, but this ain't you, is it?" He shook his head. As one, they jumped up, reaching the door. Except it wouldn't budge. The metal handle was frozen over, frost crept around the edges, warping the wooden frame. Freezer burn flared on Louisa's hand as she struggled with the handle. She wrenched her hand away, bright red marks layering her palm and fingers. "What the-?"

"I don't know." Nico's breath was coming in short, shallow gasps. The sceptre fell from his grasp, shadows spiking from the orb as it hit the floor, streaking into the corners of the room. He put a hand on his chest, eyes wide, searching for her.

"It's OK, Nico, it's gonna be alright. I'll get us out." She took him by the arm, sitting him on the bed. He drew his knees to his chest, hugging them tightly as he gulped for air. Louisa bundled him up in the quilt again, brightening the lamp on the nightstand as much as she could. He squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face in the bedding.

Frost was creeping across the floor now, the door was almost completely covered in ice. Louisa didn't touch it, letting her hand hover an inch from its surface. A tug in her gut and water started running down, expanding from her palm. At first, nothing more than drips, then trickles. Then the surface of the door started to appear unfrozen, the melting rippled out.

She held up her other hand, closing her eyes. She could hear Nico's shaky breathing behind her, heard him mumbling, voice quiet and high with terror.

The door opened inwards. Louisa pulled it fully open, frowning at the sight on the other side.

The entire walkway was one solid block of ice. It filled every crevice she could see, had taken on the pattern of the door.

"H-H-Hazel." Nico said between teeth that chattered and not just from the cold. "F-f-fi-find H-H-Hazel." She nodded. Hazel's room was two doors up from hers, Piper's room between them. She flung her hands at the ice, one just above her head and the other closer to her knees. The ice melted quicker this time, but it took longer to open a passageway from her room to Hazel's. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she could kick open Hazel's door. She found Frank and Hazel huddled together and shivering under the blankets.

"You two OK?"

"Wh-where's Nico?" Hazel shivered.

"My room."

"Is he OK?"

"Go 'n' see him. I'll go 'n' see what's causin' all this." They nodded. She left, heard them slipping on the icy floor in the opposite direction. She melted and willed the ice into a tunnel around her, gradually working her way to the staircase.

She reached the halfway point at something that felt like ten years later. Her teeth chattered and she couldn't help but shiver- this wasn't normal ice. The more she dug, the more she felt resistance, but she had to keep going. Piper, Jason and Leo were still upstairs. She made it another two feet when the ship bucked, jolting and lurching. She was thrown into the wall, lost her footing and fell. Muffled screams and panicked yelling came from her cabin down the hall.

She imagined this is what it felt like to be in a spinning top. As the ship spun in what felt all directions at once, her stomach churned, she couldn't move, pinned to the floor. Her vision went dark and she saw Percy. He was encased in smoke- no, he was _made_ of smoke. Annabeth too, just to her right. Facing Percy, kneeling on the floor, was a strange creature. It took Louisa a moment to realise that it was actually a woman, some sort of goddess going by the aura she radiated. She was small, her body was like that of a famine victim, with stick-like limbs, swollen knees and knobbly elbows. She had rags for clothes, broken fingernails and toenails. Dust was caked on her skin and piled on her shoulders as if she had showered at the bottom of an hourglass.

Her face was worse. Utter desolation. Her sunken eyes were rheumy, pouring out tears. Her nose dripped like a waterfall, stringy grey hair was matted to her skull in greasy tufts and her cheeks were raked and bleeding as if she'd been clawing herself. On her lap lay an ancient shield, a battered circle of wood and bronze, painted with her likeness holding the shield, so it seemed the image spanned on forever, smaller and smaller.

Flowers spawned around this sad goddess, the scent of them swarmed around Louisa. Her head swam, her limbs trembled. Poison. It leaked from the flowers, creating a pool around the goddess. It crept towards Percy and he fell to one knee. His thoughts battled into Louisa's mind, his concern for Annabeth first and foremost. The blonde was throwing things at the goddess, screaming at her. Louisa wasn't sure what she was saying; she felt as if dead leaves had lined her throat, gagging.

The poison fell around Percy; Louisa heard him call it a lake. Then his thoughts changed, she felt his despair begin to dissipate.

_Lake_, he thought_, water_. He gave a croaky laugh. The poison stopped spreading. Percy stood, shakily. As one, the twins felt a surge of power flooding from their stomach and out, rinsing their systems of the effects of the poison. Louisa's head cleared, she felt a realisation click in her brother's mind.

The lake began rolling back in tiny waves.

_That's it, Percy, _Louisa thought, _just a bit more, then you 'n' Blondie can go. _

The poison made the goddess cough and cry more. Percy imagined tears filling her nose and throat. A chill filled Louisa's fingers.

_No, Percy, don't do that._ The poison sizzled at the goddess's feet. Annabeth was calling for Percy. _Bro, come on, she needs ya, don't do this. You ain't like that, stop it, stop it. _

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice cut through clearly. Percy looked round. Louisa felt the shock that hit him; Annabeth had moved away, they could both see how terrified she was. But she wasn't looking at the goddess.

She was looking at Percy.

Annabeth pleaded with him, barely concealed sobs wobbling her voice. "Please stop, Percy. Please." Percy didn't want to. He wanted to make this goddess drown in her own poison.

"Percy, listen to her!" Louisa yelled. Her voice sounded distant, as if it were someone else's from the end of a long tunnel. "Just stop! It's not worth losin' Annabeth for this!"

"_Please_, Percy." Annabeth cried. Percy's anger faded and Louisa woke up. She was still where she had fallen, but the ship had stopped spinning. The ice was beginning to drip, cold splashes on her cheek. Her arms trembled as she pushed herself up. There was no resistance in the ice. She broke through in a few swiping motions, hurrying up the stairs. She stumbled at the top.

"Why's Jason made of ice?"

"It was Khione." Piper looked at her over her shoulder, choking on tears. Louisa tried to push the thought of the crying goddess Percy had faced from her mind. She moved over, putting a hand on Jason's forehead. He was slowly defrosting. Louisa willed the ice to melt away, surveying the deck.

"Where's Leo?"


	10. Chapter 10

**To JasonGraceIsDead- Oh, they will! MWHAHAHAHA! ^_^**

* * *

Louisa stomped about the ship, melting the ice and tossing the water overboard. The sky overhead remained stormy, but Khione's storm had long evaporated. This was darker, humid. Angry.

Angry didn't cover it. The waves sloshed violently beneath the hull. Thunder shook the railings. Sails whipped in roaring winds, each snap of the material yanking the ropes taut. Hazel lay in her cabin, Frank sat with her. Louisa paid none of them any heed, not even when the ice was gone. She continued to bustle about the ship. Maybe checking defences. Maybe- more likely- looking for Leo. Piper saw her loop the ship four times. The fifth loop began, but she never reappeared.

Nico found her in the engine room. She was sat on the floor, cross-legged like a small child. Watching the engine rumble and clatter, the lights flaring, the whistling, the liquid running in some of the pipes, lightning crackling through others. He crouched next to her, holding the staff in front of him with both hands, leaning on it slightly.

"We're heading towards the African coast." He said carefully.

"I know." She replied flatly. "We'll be there in half an hour."

"Might need you to dock the ship."

"I'll come up in a bit." He nodded, surveying the engine room. It was noisy and chaotic and he hated it, but it made sense for Leo. He glanced over at Louisa. He sought peace when things got too out of hand. She sort madness. He instilled quiet, she brought thunder.

"Hazel's been sick."

"Sorry. I'm tryin'."

"It's not your fault."

"I should've known. But I was… slidin' about on the floor." She spat.

"Well, I thought it was the sceptre. And no, you still can't have a go." He tipped it away from her, but she hardly batted an eyelid. Nico bit the inside of his cheek. He bumped her with his elbow. "Come on, we need you on deck."

"OK." They stood. Louisa walked out first, Nico a few paces behind. They passed Piper on the way out; she raised her brows at her Nico, but he could only shrug. Piper frowned. She hurried on to fall in step beside Louisa. Nico splintered off to check on Hazel. She was sat on her bed, cradling a bucket and retching into it. Frank sat next to her, holding her hair back. He half-smiled at Nico, wrinkling his nose. Nico set the staff down by the door, wiggling a cramp from his fingers.

Hazel looked up as he approached, groaning.

"Please tell me she's going to stop this."

"She's trying." Nico said. Hazel gagged and disappeared into her bucket.

"Once this is over," she gulped, "once we've finished this quest," she spat into the bucket and made a face, "I am _never, ever _going on another boat." She shook her head. The ship rocked to port and she groaned, clutching the bucket tighter. Nico stumbled, putting his hand out against the wall to steady himself. Frank held onto Hazel. "Go and pinch her for me, Nico."

* * *

Louisa ignored the control panel. It was easier her way. Piper stood to one side, Jason a little way behind her, his arms folded. Louisa ignored them both. Temper boiled amid the dull ache in her chest, but chills ran through her body. She stared numbly at the oncoming land.

"Lou-" Piper began, taking a step forward. Louisa flung her arms out to each side and the ship tipped forward at a steep angle. Piper nearly fell, Jason catching her at the last second. Several barrels slid past them and then rolled backwards when the rear of the ship crashed back into the water. Glancing over to starboard, Piper saw the churning waves racing away in a wide arch around them. They settled on calm waters, but the heavy storm lingered overhead, bubbling with bursts of thunder. Ropes flew, sails were adjusted, the anchor fell, all on their own. Louisa's expression hardened as they docked a hundred metres from the shore.

"Can't go closer." She said stiffly. "Too shallow." She moved to the railings, pointing out something. Jason and Piper joined her, seeing three lifeguard boats zipping towards them. "Not mortals." She said.

"Monsters?" Jason asked, hand on his sword.

"No. Welcome party."

"Welcome party?" Piper repeated. "Who's welcoming us?" Louisa shrugged and that was the last of her input. She watched as the little boats zoomed closer, throwing her hand up and bringing up a ten foot tall wall of water when she thought they were close enough. From one of the boats, they saw someone lift a megaphone.

"Demigods! The lord of the South Wind has been expecting you!"

"Oh joy." Piper muttered.

"Your crew has been instructed to come ashore and meet with his lordship! He expects to see you within the next half hour!" The megaphone was lowered a fraction, waiting for a response.

"What do we do?" Piper whispered.

"We'll have to go ashore." Jason said. "The ship's damaged, we're _miles_ off course and we've not got L- uh, we can't do repairs." He winced as the words left his mouth. Except for slight creases at the corners of her eyes, Louisa seemed not to notice.

Piper waved to the boats.

"We'll be down soon!" She called. The megaphone was dropped and the boats turned around, zipping back to land.

* * *

The lord of the South Wind requested to speak to them individually. Depending on who went in, he was either Greek or Roman. Each side offered different responses, none of which were helpful. Louisa was the last to go in, but she stopped at the doors. Venti whirled around her and she sighed. Nico stepped forward. He had gone before her, but he had not divulged his talk with the lord. He put a hand on Louisa's arm. They seemed to come to a silent agreement and she let go of the door handle. The venti hissed disapprovingly. She glowered and they were gone, rustling through their clothes and hair.

"I'm gonna go back ta the ship." She said. "I'll repair what I can."

"But what about-?" Piper pointed at the doors. Louisa considered them over her shoulder, scowling. She stormed off- literally, the beginnings of a hurricane teetering around her- leaving Piper's question unanswered. "Oh great." Piper sighed. "He's not going to like that."

"I think it's probably better Lou doesn't see him right now." Jason rubbed at his jaw. "With the mood she's in… well, we don't need any more problems." Piper's shoulders slumped and she looked down at her feet, crestfallen. Jason squeezed her shoulder. "Hey," he said softly, smiling, "if it weren't for you, the ship would be a lot worse off and we could have landed _anywhere_."

"Yeah," Frank agreed, "and Festus wouldn't be awake either, but I still don't get that?" His face scrunched. Piper smiled weakly.

"I don't know how I did it, I just… had a feeling." She shrugged a shoulder. "OK, I'm going to go back and help Lou."

"I'll stay here and see if I can get anything more out of him." Jason nodded at the doors. Piper kissed his cheek and led the others back to the ship. Nico hung back for a moment, hands twisting nervously on the staff. "You OK?" Jason asked. Nico stared at him, eventually nodding. He took his leave, shoulders tense. Jason sighed, frowning up at the doors. "Great. Just great."

* * *

Louisa took care of the rigging and fixing the sails. She climbed and swung about the ship like Spider-Man, much to the others' amazement. Nico was the only one who wasn't impressed, simply shrugging it off. "You should see what she can do underwater."

By the time the sun was going down, the body of the ship looked more presentable. Louisa was already sick of the African heat. She had spent this trip sweating and burning with Tartarus side effects. She did _not_ need _more_ heat. Jason landed on the deck, irritable.

"He wouldn't see me again." He huffed. "I searched the building, but there's so many twists and turns." He shook his head. The South Wind's palace was built into the sandstone cliffs, stretching out in a honeycomb of halls and tunnels, Balconies, colonnades and cavernous rooms had Jason meeting dead-ends and walking in circles and it didn't really help that the venti spent all day blustering around him. The wind spirits blew through the tunnels, which allowed them to make as much noise as they could. Constant pipe-organ sounds grated on Jason's nerves, but he tried to tamp it down. Upon learning of his, Piper's and Leo's first quest and their spat against their Northern counterpart, Boreas, the venti had taken particular interest in their guests. Some had even wiggled around the ship, helping out where they could.

Jason looked up at the main sail. "How's things here?"

"Well, we're not even going to _look_ at the more complicated parts." Piper grimaced. "We… we need Leo." She bit her lip, tapping her fingertips together. "I… I don't know what else we can do." Jason heard the crack in her voice, but she was keeping it back. Her eyes sparkled with tears, but she was determined not to shed them now. He still put an arm about her. _Khione said she had sent him somewhere he could never return from_, she had told him, _where would that be, Jason? Why won't he be able to come back? _Will_ he come back_? Jason had wished he had the answers for her. But he had only just defrosted at that point. Hazel and Piper were trying to warm him back up, bundling him up in numerous blankets and pressing hot drinks into his hand repeatedly.

He wished he knew the answers now. All he had to offer Piper was a measly;

"Only time will tell."

* * *

Africa was _hot_. The venti didn't help. They did not bring cool breezes, weaving tightly around their guests in loud gusts. Whenever they did this, it felt like they were being sucked into a hairdryer. By the end of the second day, the venti had grown bored of them. The only relief from the humidity was the sea, but only when Louisa stood in it. She spent most of her time under the waves, clearing her head. She would come back every so often to check on things. The water around her turned from tropically warm to near freezing. The others relished in this. Not Nico, but he was dunked in the water when she sent a wave to capture him.

Louisa came back just after sundown, humming distractedly. In her arms, she held an assortment of seashells. She quietly handed them out to the others. Each one was almost as big as a melon, various patterns and colours and shapes, all equally beautiful.

"Where did you find these, Lou?" Piper marvelled.

"At the bottom." Louisa replied. "Except that one," she pointed at the one in Hazel's hands, "an octopus gave me that one." She still held three, her eyes tracing their shapes sadly. One of them was mostly blue. Coach put his shell to his ear, frowning.

"Can't hear the sea, cupcake." He grunted.

"That's 'cos it's over there," Louisa pointed at the ocean, "not in a shell." Coach pressed the shell to his other ear, shaking his head at Louisa. Her attention wavered, falling back on the three shells she still cradled. She turned on her heel and disappeared below deck.

"Mmph." Coach squinted. "I don't like it when she's quiet."

* * *

By the fourth day, they had started work straightening out the remaining oars. Coach particularly loved this bit, because he got to hit stuff. He hung over the edge of the ship, Piper stood above to make sure he didn't plummet and to critique his work- something she rather enjoyed. It was a pleasant distraction, cheekily ordering their chaperone about and stifling giggles when he fumed and cursed. Louisa sparred with Hazel on the beach. Frank was waiting his turn. Nico was sat next to him, frowning at the sceptre. At best, the only influence he had had over the sceptre was the orb changing colour to suit his mood.

"Little to the left, Coach!" Piper called, smiling sweetly when he glared up at her.

"It _is_ on the left!" He protested.

"Little bit more!" She insisted. He hit it and she shook her head. "Too much left!"

"Don't make me come up there, McLean!"

Hazel deflected a stab at her head, Louisa twisted sharply. She hooked her foot behind Hazel's ankle and tripped her up.

"Dead." She declared flatly, sword aimed at Hazel's throat. Hazel spat out sand and pushed herself up. She readied her sword. Louisa did too. While they fought, Hazel watched Louisa's eyes. The sea green had gained little blue flakes, as if slowly absorbing the colour of the ocean beside them. The effect was equal parts alluring and alarming, Hazel found. While the colours were gorgeous, they were dulled with the funk Louisa was in. She was bored, distracted, hardly holding back against Hazel one minute and then suddenly forgetting she was there the next. She disarmed Hazel a little too easily. The spatha turned end over end, splashing into the waves ten or so feet away.

Louisa tapped Hazel on the head with the flat of her blade. "Dead." She repeated. "Frank, your turn." Frank hopped to his feet. Hazel retrieved her sword and sat next to her brother. In the African sun, he had gained a little rosiness to his skin, but he had not tanned like the rest of them. The orb of the sceptre fizzled from green to a deep purple and he sighed.

"Stupid thing." He muttered. "I can summon the dead with Happy Meals better than I can with this." He dropped it on the sand next to him. "You've got sand in your hair." He remarked, trying to brush it out with the palm of his hand. Hazel wiggled her fingers through her curls, but the sand had decided to stay.

"I'll get it later." She shrugged. She looked over her shoulder at the cliffside palace. "How do you think Jason's getting on?" Nico hummed, frown deepening. He considered the palace too. Jason had spent most of their time here waiting to speak with the lord of the South Wind. Except he was getting as much of an answer as they did on their first day. Louisa still hadn't had her interview with the god. No one brought it up with her.

Frank lost his sword in such a fashion that he nearly impaled himself on it. He even seemed to be questioning how he managed that. Hazel, while relieved he hadn't maimed himself, was pleased to see this behaviour. It just meant that, despite his growth spurt and his new look, her lovable klutz was still in there. Each time that side of him surfaced, the more her worry chipped away into nothingness.

Nico watched the match. Hazel could see the cogs working behind his dark gaze. When Frank's sword sailed from his grip for the eleventh time and he was announced 'dead' once more, Nico stood, brushing the sand from his pants.

"My turn." He decided. Frank, red-faced and sweating profusely, looked relieved for the break. Louisa spun her blade in her hand, stabbing it into the sand. She nodded once at Nico, turning away slightly. She pulled her T-shirt over her head, a simple cami vest top and sports bra on underneath. She wiped her sweaty face on her T-shirt, tossing it to one side once Nico had swapped places with Frank.

"Been a while, cuz." She said monotonously.

"You've missed it." Nico replied, drawing his Stygian Iron sword. Louisa calmly retrieved her blade, flicking sand from the tip.

"We'll see about that." The light of a smirk twinkled in her eyes, but nothing altered her expression. Nico charged.

Louisa _had_ been holding back a _lot_ against Hazel and Frank. She and Nico moved with a speed that astounded their spectators, their swords blurred and rang loudly, sand shifted and dusted around their feet. Frank couldn't bring himself to blink, not sure which fighter he should focus on. Nico had taken up the defensive to begin with, but as Louisa stabbed and slashed at him in quicker succession than heartbeats, he threw in some offense. Shadows seemed to ripple from him, trailing behind his movements, flaring from his arms and encircling his feet. The surf crashed with sudden ferocity, throwing up sheets of water vapour. The air twisted around Louisa, rifling through the sand, absorbing the vapour.

When Jason returned, they were still going. Louisa had the advantage; she had pushed Nico back into the waves. His feet were stuck in place, tendrils pulled on his free arm and shoulders, one looping his chest. He slashed at any more that tried to ensnare his sword arm. Louisa raised her sword, Nico yelled defiantly. Darkness erupted from him, the water vanishing into mist, then nothing, upon contact. He leapt from the water, back on the sand. For a split second, his back was to Louisa. She threw aside her sword and tackled him from behind. They rolled in the sand. Nico let go of his sword at some point and they wrestled, twisting and insulting the other in various languages, trying to pin the other down, getting a slap or a punch in. Louisa flipped them over, her knee on the small of his back, the other in the sand. She captured him in a headlock, looping her arms under his and clasping her hands at the back of his neck. Nico cursed, struggling and straining to get free.

His only option was shadow travel. Louisa fell to the sand, throwing her hands out to stop herself faceplanting. Nico reappeared next to Jason, taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Having fun?" Jason remarked, a barely concealed smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Somewhat." Nico said, shrugging a shoulder. "How's your day been?"

"Waste of time." Jason sighed. He drew his sword. Louisa held her hand out and hers jumped back into her grasp. "Does she ever get tired?"

"That's a stupid question to ask five feet from the sea."

"Good point."


	11. Chapter 11

Piper and Louisa were on the night watch. They only really had to deal with a few curious venti, but a look from Louisa sent them on their way. She was sat astride Festus's head; the dragon was blowing small amounts of flames for her to roast marshmallows on. She had skewered them on one of her arrows. Piper stood at the helm, watching her worriedly. Louisa hadn't said anything, but Piper could sense she was in pain. Whatever had happened to Percy during Sciron's attack, the effects still rang through Louisa. Piper suspected she had experienced something else, but was keeping it to herself, mulling it over.

And Leo's disappearance didn't help. Piper had become so accustomed to seeing them together, causing mischief and fires. _I've sent him somewhere he can never return from_. Khione's voice flipped through her mind. Piper ran her fingers over the edge of the control panel, traced the sphere Leo had been so excited to integrate with his systems. The thought of never seeing him again, of never laughing when he set himself on fire or never hearing him crashing about or talking disjointedly to himself or singing out of tune… Hot tears welled, Piper tried to blink them away, but they fell anyway.

"Piper." Louisa said. She didn't look round, still roasting marshmallows. "I've got teams lookin' for him." Piper slid trembling fingers under her eyes, sniffing. Louisa lifted the arrow, plucking one of the marshmallows off. "If he's anywhere in or on the sea, we'll find him." Piper recalled all the hours Louisa had spent underwater the past few days.

"Is that what you've been doing?"

"Yeah. Plus… it'd be quite funny if a blue whale brought Leo back. I'm sure he'd be makin' Pinocchio jokes." Piper could envision it, croaking a soft laugh. Louisa threw a marshmallow back to her. "Perks of bein' able ta talk ta fish." She frowned out at the ocean. The half-moon lilted, almost smiling at them, the waves were calm, rocking the ship as if to lull them to sleep. Thousands of stars gleamed at them. Under any other circumstances, it would have been tranquil. Surreal, but tranquil.

Piper wiped at her face, her gaze floating over their surroundings as she bit into the sweet. So much ocean. And that was just the surface. She could not begin to comprehend the depths. She looked to Louisa. She seemed so small, sat on Festus's head, picking at her food like a child. The image was at odds with the expanse of her domain.

"What's it like?" Piper found herself asking. Louisa lifted her head slightly to show she was listening. "All… that," she waggled her fingers at the ocean, "what's it like?" Louisa shoved a marshmallow in her mouth. Piper didn't press for an answer. She hadn't expected one- how could you summarise having two thirds of the planet at your fingertips?

Louisa set her arrow down, planting her hands on Festus's neck. She hopped to her feet, gathered her supplies. She clambered back to stand next to Piper, dumping her stuff on the floor. She offered her hand, watching Piper expectantly. "The ship-"

"We won't go far."

"OK." Piper took her hand. Louisa led her over the rails, a tower of water rising for them to step on. It didn't look very stable, but Louisa was unfazed by it. The water lowered them and then they were underwater. Piper held her breath for a moment, but Louisa shook her head. She still held her hand. Piper could breathe underwater. She was dry. She picked at her shirt in amazement, laughing and then marvelling that she was laughing underwater. "This is so cool!" Louisa half-smiled. Her eyes regained their sea greenness, a little spark revitalised. She tugged gently on Piper's hand, pulled her into a piggy back.

The water swirled around them and they shot down. Piper clung on, squealing delightedly. The surface was already a hundred feet over their heads and rapidly getting further away. Curious schools of fish flowed around them. Louisa held her hands out and they swam under her fingers, wiggling excitedly.

They reached a cliff edge, Louisa set down a few feet from it. Piper's feet touched the seabed, clouds of silt swarming her ankles. Darkness loomed below, ready to engulf them. Fear of the unknown filtered through Piper, but only for a second. Louisa faced it so calmly. As long as Piper kept a hold of her, she had nothing to worry about. The fish spiralled around them, tickling Piper's face and arms. They dispersed in flashes of colours and fins. Louisa glanced over her shoulder, waiting for Piper's approval. Her companion nodded eagerly and she smiled. Piper tightened her arms around her neck, Louisa jumped.

For the space of three heartbeats, they were suspended over the chasm. Piper couldn't see how deep it was, she couldn't see the other side. She could hardly see the sunlight from above. She felt weightless, her stomach seemed to float back up to the surface, they were going to hang here for eternity, and then Louisa dived. Piper could see nothing but shadows. She couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed. The further they went, the colder the water became, but it didn't bother her. Louisa turned this way and that, water rippled around them, Piper could feel various presences moving about them, still seeing nothing.

Then Louisa alighted. Piper felt her head moving, examining their surroundings. "Can you see?" Piper asked, her voice warbling through the water.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"I can… see the currents. Different temperatures. It's not as dark for me as is it for you. Uh, hold on." Louisa clapped, green light erupted from her fingertips. "Ah. Piper, no yellin'." Piper opened her eyes, a scream clogging her throat. Louisa held her hand up, shedding green light in front of them. "Hello." The giant squid stared at them. Tentacles bloomed around it. It was almost fourteen metres in length. Its eye fixed on them. Louisa lowered her hand slightly. A tentacle wrapped around her forearm and she laughed. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Wanted ta show Piper 'round. Pipes, ya can breathe now. She's only comin' up 'cos we're near her eggs."

"Oh. Sorry." Piper managed a sheepish smile. A tentacle poked at her forehead and she recoiled, more surprised than disgusted.

"She's friendly." Louisa assured. Piper wasn't sure who she was talking to, the squid or her. Louisa patted the tentacle around her arm and was let go. She waved to the squid and swam on. "You OK?"

"That was… unexpected."

"Yeah, giant squids tend ta keep ta themselves. Like I said, she only came up 'cos we were too close to her eggs. Which way?" She spread her hands, green light spilling forth. They faced the cliff wall. Piper could see the outline of a tunnel entrance. Louisa pointed at it. "Potentially a monster that way, but also cool treasure. Or we could go that way," she pointed right, "'n' find more of them shells. Or we could go that way," she pointed left, "'n' get some pearls from giant clams. Like, mega giant clams. One of 'em back home gave me a pearl this big once." She held her hands before her, holding an invisible basketball. "Mom loved it."

"Um, shells. I could get some for my cabin."

"Cool." Louisa took off right.

"So," Piper looked up, but it was all inky blackness, "if I were to let go of you-?"

"Ya'd be crushed by the pressure before ya could drown."

"Nice." Piper forced a smile, nearly strangling Louisa as her hold constricted. Louisa didn't comment on it, heading for the sea shells. They were around here somewhere…

* * *

When the others came up in the morning, Louisa and Piper were sat cross-legged on the deck in a mound of sea shells. Piper was talking excitedly, examining each shell closely. Louisa was smiling too, letting Piper's cheer wash over her.

"We went swimming!" Piper beamed.

"And brought back the ocean's worth of shells." Jason noticed, amused.

"Nah, this was just a cove below the ship."

"_Way_ below!" Piper confirmed. "How far down did you say we went?"

"Uh," Louisa scratched at her neck, "just under ten thousand feet, I think."

"Whoa." Frank said.

"I could've died!" Piper said a little too cheerily. Jason narrowed his eyes at Louisa.

"I wouldn't've let her, Sparky, don't blow a fuse."

"Why so many shells though?" Hazel asked, picking her way through the collection.

"I couldn't pick my favourites." Piper admitted. "Besides, the mermaid who collected them, she had _thousands_."

"Twelve thousand, nine hundred 'n' eighty-four." Louisa corrected.

"And she was very pleased a daughter of Poseidon liked them!" Piper beamed. "And we met a giant squid, she poked me in the head!" Piper pressed a fingertip to her forehead. The others were giving her bewildered looks. "Look, you just need to try it. It's terrifying and I could have died, but it was _awesome_." Piper grinned at Louisa. "Thanks, Lou."

"Anytime."

* * *

Louisa decided to explore the palace. Jason was once again waiting for his audience with the lord of the South Wind. She was aware that she hadn't seen the god, but she had no intention to. She didn't like his organ-pipe castle, she was trying to figure out how to punch the heat in the face, she wanted to strangle a few dozen venti and she was lost. Again.

"_Uuuggghhh_," she complained, spinning on her heel and heading back the other way, "everythin' looks the same!" She stomped past several balconies. She could see the ship from here, saw Coach working on the last of the oars. She could make out a tiny blob- Frank- at the controls. The oars began chopping up and down and Coach was smacked straight into the air. He came screaming down, disappearing into the bay. Louisa sighed, moving onto the nearest balcony. She flicked her hands and the satyr re-emerged, caught in a tower of water. He was dumped onboard, Louisa splashed Frank for good measure and let the water fall back. "Idiots." She said, shaking her head. She saw Hazel and Piper sparring on the sand; Piper wielded the jagged bronze sword she had stolen from Zethes the Boread a little wildly, but she had the right spirit. Louisa watched for a moment- the sword wasn't totally balanced in Piper's hand, but she was adjusting to it, determined.

She stepped away, stopping almost instantly. Cold worked up from her feet, creeping up past her knees, through her thighs, curling in her stomach. She looked round. She could sense the ground shifting, not far from her, trembling, cracking. The chill filled her arms. She moved to a column opposite her, facing the shadows. "Nico, Nico, Nico!" She called.

He appeared, stepping from the shadows. The sceptre hung from his belt, glowing a deep purple.

"I hate when you do that."

"It works though." She smiled cheekily. He glowered at the floor. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He muttered. Louisa's hand shot out, pinching his ear.

"Nico." Her smile remained, her tone was light. Her eyes were dangerous. Nico bit the inside of his cheek, trying to push her hand away. "Tell Lou what's wrong."

"Jason." He grimaced. "Sticking his nose in."

"About the-?"

"Yes." He spat. The air around him began shimmering with spectral light. Louisa sighed.

"Nico," she said, "you're an idiot." He blinked with surprise, scowling seconds later. The ground cracked at his feet. "What did he say?" When he said nothing, she pulled on his ear lightly. He sighed. Jason had offered for Nico to talk to him about Croatia, if he wanted to. Said he had understood, in which Nico had cut him off defiantly. "I'm a son of Hades. I said I might as well be covered in blood or sewage-"

"Might make ya smell nicer."

"-I don't fit at either camp, Lou. And I'm not from this century. Now… _this_." He gestured at himself, nose wrinkling with disgust. Louisa rolled her eyes. "He told me I was hiding."

"Ya kind of are." The light around him darkened. Patterns in the stone floor shivered under his feet. Louisa pursed her lips. "Jay just wants ta help ya, but ya ain't makin' it easy for him. He says you're hidin', 'cos you _are_. Ya don't let anyone in, not really."

"I talk to you."

"'Cos I twist ya ear. Literally." She let go and he winced. His hand covered his ear and he frowned at her. "I ain't a people person, I know that." She held her hands up. "But _you_," she jabbed him in the chest, "if ya want people ta start acceptin' ya, ya gonna have ta work on acceptin' yaself first. 'N' if someone, like Jay, is offerin' ta help ya, even if ya don't know him all that well, then don't do the ghost light shit. Say thank you, say you'll think about it." She poked him in the head. "_Don't_ be an ass."

"You're an ass." He mumbled dejectedly. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Then don't. Just say 'not right now, thank you'." His expression soured. Louisa slugged his shoulder. "You ain't alone anymore, cuz. 'N' it ain't just me ya've got now either. Hazel's here. She brings Frank. Ya got me, ya _have_ got Percy, but I know ya don't wanna talk to him about all this-" His eyes locked on her, narrowing coldly. Louisa ignored it, counting people off on her fingers. "-Leo's just as much an idiot as you are; ya've got Sparky, he brings Piper 'n' she's great, helped me figure some stuff out about me too. Ya know Mom 'n' Mam love havin' ya round. Chiron. Tyson likes ya. Grover. Coach Hedge, says you're his special shadow cupcake."

"Lou-"

"Will Solace. Kayla and Austin. Lou Ellen."

"Lou-"

"Katie, the Stolls-"

"_Lou-_"

"Clarisse still wants a rematch."

"Louisa, for the love of-" Nico threw his hands up. Louisa looked at him expectantly, crossing her arms smugly. "You're insufferable."

"Thank you." She messed his hair. "Ya gonna carry on bein' an idiot or do I need ta throw ya off the balcony?"

"I'll… be good."

"Good news!" They turned. Jason was running towards them, beaming. "I talked to the king-"

"Ooh, shocker."

"No, I mean… I've got an idea how to get the ship moving." Jason explained. Nico's brow furrowed. Louisa started laughing.

"That'll either tear ya arms out or be the coolest thing I've ever seen. Or both. Well, actually, _one_ of the coolest things I've ever seen. Don't quite beat that beagle dressed as a pigeon stealin' an empousa's bag." She rubbed at her jaw. "Wait, what were we talkin' about again?"

"Just… come back to the ship." Jason sighed, smiling. "You can help me get the ship in the air."

"What if I don't wanna?" Louisa pouted. Nico elbowed her and she huffed. "_Fiiiine_." Jason led the way back to the ship. Louisa trudged behind him, Nico dragging her along by the arm like a petulant child. She complained the whole walk back, flicking Jason in the back of the head or his shoulder, told him his shoe laces were undone and laughing when he looked. Jason offered to fly them up, holding his hand out to Nico first.

"No." He said. Louisa cleared her throat. "Thank you." He added stiffly. Jason took a moment to smile, nodded once and took off. Louisa patted Nico on the head. "I don't like flying." He mumbled.

"Cool story, bro." Louisa grabbed him around the waist, thrusting her other hand down. The water erupted under her feet and she surfed to the ship, Nico screaming Italian obscenities until she put him down. He glowered at her, straightening his shirt and stomping off. "It technically wasn't flyin'!" She called after him, snickering. "Anyway, Jay, did the king say where to?"

"Valletta, Malta. He said we won't need the venti once we're there." He pointed at Festus. Tethered just above his head with ropes of tightly wound wind, were four equestrian southern venti. They were made of hot dust and fire, billowing flames. Festus spewed fire too, almost in competition.

"Won't need them?" Louisa repeated. "What, ya mean… Leo's gonna be there?"

"I hope so." Jason bowed his head. Piper popped up, grabbing his arm. She scanned his face, tentatively hopeful.

"Leo?" She breathed. Jason hunched his shoulders.

"There's a chance. Now, go downstairs. All of you." He spoke to the others over Piper's head. "I've somehow got to keep a hold of these venti all the way to Malta." Piper nodded, the others followed her down, except for one. He looked to Louisa, squeezing her shoulder. "Give us a boost?"

"OK." She said distractedly. She was staring at the palace, conflicted. Before Jason could ask, she nodded and the distraction cleared. "OK, let's go."

* * *

Jason straddled the figurehead, entwining the wind ropes around his arms. The venti pulled on the reins, he could feel the ship rocking and bobbing as Louisa summoned the waves just beneath it. Her idea was to simply build up pressure under the Argo and then launch it. The others were already holding onto anything they could to make sure they weren't flung about in their cabins. Hazel had her bucket ready.

"Get ready, Sparky!" Louisa called.

"Ready when you are!" He called back. He wasn't ready, he didn't know how he was going to do this, but he _had_ to. The waves rolled under them, they lowered a few metres. Jason flicked the reins, the venti whinnied, raring to go, and the ship was launched. The venti _loved_ the sudden motion, careening into the stream and galloping upwards. The Argo tipped in a forward direction, still rising. Then they were running purely on the power of the wind spirits and Jason's will.

Louisa stumbled below deck, head spinning. She put a _little_ bit more force in her launch than she realised and everything was see-sawing around her. Piper appeared and she got the giggles.

"That was fun!" She beamed. "Again!"

"No, not again." Piper shook her head, smiling. "I don't think Hazel could take it again."

"Oh, I'm sure she's _fine_." Louisa laughed, waving it off. She tripped over her own feet. Piper caught her, gently lifting Louisa's arm around her shoulders. Louisa grinned sloppily at her.

"Come on, let's get you sat down before you fall and break your neck."

"Aww, buzzkill, Pipes. Hey, it's Nico! Hi, Nico!"

"I'm not talking to you."

"Grumpy bastard. Come here 'n' fight me, ya lil' shit." Piper pulled Louisa away, but not before Louisa stuck her middle finger up at her cousin. Piper nudged open the door to Louisa's cabin and unceremoniously dumped her on her bed. "I'm fine, I'm fine, thanks for askin'." Louisa mumbled into her pillow. "Just give me a minute…"

"Dizzy?"

"Yeah, lil' bit." A knock on the door caught their attention. Coach stuck his head in, grinning broadly.

"That was _awesome_! Do it again!"

"Yes!" Louisa pushed herself up on her arms, wincing at the sudden movement.

"_No_." Piper said firmly. Louisa blew a raspberry at her and slumped. "Coach, can you check on the others for me?"

"Is it still a no on the again?"

"Yes. It's still a no."

"Unfair, McLean." Coach pouted. Piper pointed sharply and he ducked back out, muttering to himself.

"It's like looking after a bunch of toddlers." She mumbled.

"Toddlers?" Louisa demanded. "Where? I don't like toddlers!"

"I'm genuinely surprised you like _anyone_. Now shush." Piper patted her on the head. "You're going to behave for the rest of the trip, aren't you, Lou?"

"No."

"I said, _aren't you, Lou_?"

"Mmm… yes, Piper."

"Good girl."


	12. Chapter 12

**To Guest- Yes, you could say it is! **

**To RandomFanAuthor- Not good at all, nope! And that does sound like something she would do, but it doesn't go with my plan! ^_^**

* * *

Two hours had passed since they had left Africa. No-one had ventured upstairs, the winds were too loud and rambunctious. Louisa, despite Jason's instructions to stay safe below deck, did try to go upstairs. Nico and Piper had to drag her back. She tried again about ten minutes later. Frank whisked past her as a snake. She screamed and tried to stomp on his head. He morphed back into regular Frank and fireman-lifted her in one flowing move.

"Dammit, Frank! No more snakes!" She demanded as he carried her back to her room.

"Only if you behave." Frank bribed, setting her down on the floor. He gripped her shoulders. She was bouncing on the soles of her feet, her hands were jittery and she was looking round at everything in the room, as if it were all speaking to her. "You OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm dandy, hallicunatin', joyous twin brother stuff. Ya know how it goes."

"Um, yeah. Do you want me to get Piper?"

"No. No. All good."

"Is… are Percy and Annabeth OK?"

"Mm." Louisa grimaced. She was watching something just past Frank's left elbow. Frank waved his hand in her face. She didn't notice. Her vision was clouded. If she concentrated, she could see her room more than what she was seeing via Percy. He was looking down, presumably at his body, but it was shrouded in smoke. He looked like something from _The Walking Dead_. Annabeth didn't look much better. They walked behind the giant silvery figure with his broom and a… was that a _cat_? Something small and fluffy, _it definitely looked like a cat_, on his shoulder.

Percy looked around. She couldn't see what he was seeing with perfect clarity, the details blurred. However, she could hear the roar of monsters, the screech of gryphons, the cackling of empousai, the lash of a whip, the crackle of fire… panic seeped into Percy's mind as he wondered how many enemies were down here? How many had he killed? How many wanted revenge?

He had to get Annabeth to the Doors. Annabeth _had_ to get out.

Someone flicked her in the head. Her room came back into focus. Frank had been replaced with a grumpy Nico. "Ow." She grumbled, rubbing at her forehead.

"Stop freaking Frank out." He ordered, quickly followed by, "Are you OK?"

"My head hurts." She accused.

"Did you see Percy?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure what he's doin', but…" She fumbled for a moment. "Lots of monsters. I think he knows some of 'em. 'N' Annabeth is there. 'N' that big silvery dude with the broom, except he has a cat now, I think?" Nico hummed, picking at his lip.

"I did sense them getting closer to the Doors." He said quietly.

"Thanks for tellin' me."

"Anytime."

"Fuck-ass."

"That's not-" Nico caught himself, closing his eyes. He counted to ten. When he opened his eyes, Louisa had leant as close as she could get without actually touching him. "I hate you."

"No ya don't."

"I'm considering it." Nico took a step back. She grinned.

* * *

Hour three- ping pong tournament. Nico, to everyone's surprise, was reigning champ. Hazel got a little _too_ involved with the game, flinging her paddle across the room, narrowly missing her brother's head. Frank had thrown it too, except it had gone straight up and lodged in the ceiling. Piper had to stand on his shoulders to get it down; he was too bashful at their laughter to transform and do it himself.

Coach kept eating the balls. He was very lucky to avoid death by ping pong paddle, although Nico still looked like he was considering it. Louisa was next.

"Don't cheat." Nico warned her.

"I _never_ cheat."

"You never not cheat." Nico corrected flatly. She stuck her tongue out. Nico served. Their volley was the quickest yet, hardly touching the table for almost a minute. Then Louisa became bored; she put a nasty spin on the ball, sending it off somewhere to Nico's right. He sighed. "I don't know if you're worse at this than you are Monopoly."

"Hey, I'm _ace_ at Monopoly."

"You're ace at _stealing_ in Monopoly."

"Everybody steals in Monopoly!" Louisa protested. "Pipes, back me up, don't ya steal in Monopoly?"

"Sometimes." Piper agreed, hunching her shoulders.

"Piper doesn't count, she charmspeaks."

"Rude!"

"Coach?"

"Duh, the notes are the best part!" He patted his stomach and grinned. Louisa nodded slowly, suddenly realising she didn't actually have any back-up. Hazel was looking at her blankly, shaking her head, clueless. Frank was fidgeting his hands, keeping his head down. Stealing in Monopoly had probably never crossed his mind, bless him.

"Ya'll borin'." She decided. Nico served, bouncing a ball off the back of her head. Without looking round, she flung her arm out, brandishing her paddle at him. "Square up." Nico snorted and her head snapped round.

"My turn!" Piper called, plucking Louisa's paddle from her hand. She budged her aside with her hip, grinning wickedly at Nico. "Prepare to lose."

"A valiant statement." Nico surmised. Piper quickly proved him wrong.

* * *

Hour four- charades. Louisa wasn't very good at this, stomping her foot and swearing the answers at them every time her turn came up. She faired a little better once paired with Nico, but that didn't stop her from pretending to throw her charade at him.

"It's a book." Nico sighed. "Three words. Is this a genuine book, or something you want to tell me?" Louisa grinned and waggled her finger at him. Nico rubbed at his eyes. "Is it 'go fuck yourself'?" She beamed, nodding. "Someone please take over, she's useless."

"Fight me."

"I thought you wanted to win?"

"Eh, pickin' on you is much more fun." She shrugged. Hazel took over, partnered with Piper. Frank, being impartial, was judging for cheating. He had technically disqualified Louisa over a dozen times, but she suddenly couldn't hear or see him. Coach was watching intently, eating his way through the box of ping pong balls, convinced they hadn't noticed.

"It's a film. Two words." Piper squinted at Hazel. Hazel hesitated, pressing her fingertips together. Her gaze passed over Coach and she started making wide, over-exaggerated karate chops. "Chuck Norris!" Piper grinned.

"Sorry, it's all I know." She hunched her shoulders. "Unless you want something from the forties."

"Hazel, we're gonna get ya up ta speed on stuff. First 'n' foremost- Marvel." Louisa nodded seriously.

"Marvel at what?"

"Fuck's sake." Louisa put her head in her hands. Hazel looked at her brother, brows raised.

"We'll work on it later." Nico assured. He flicked Louisa in the head. "Don't swear at Hazel."

"_Marvel_, Nico! _Marvel_!"

"I know, I know." He patted her shoulder, letting her simmer.

* * *

Hour five- races. It started with seeing who could get to a certain point faster. Except Louisa had her Spider-Man ship powers, Frank could turn into animals, Nico could shadow travel, Piper used her charmspeak to make them slow down or run into a wall and Coach was a satyr, so yeah, that was soon null and void. Hazel wasn't very happy with any of them.

Instead, Nico elected to hide a random object somewhere on the ship, below deck. The first to find it got the point. "Sounds good," Piper nodded, "what's the object?"

"Lou's sketchbook." Nico smirked, pulling the book from behind his back. Louisa death-stared him. "You can't ever hide these from me, Lou."

"Wait, is that the sketchbook we're not allowed to look in?" Hazel reached for it, Nico whisking it out of her reach. Louisa made a grab for it too. Nico melted into the shadows with a wicked chuckle. "Lou, why can't we look in it?"

"'Cos it's mine."

"I bet she's been drawing us." Piper grinned. "And she's got a picture of Leo surrounded by hearts and 'Louisa Valdez' and-"

"I will throw you off this ship."

"I don't care for the drawings!" Coach rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Did you not smell that paper? _I can't wait to eat it._"

"_Do you have any idea how expensive that one was_?" Louisa countered. "I mean, not that I paid for it, Mom got it for me, _but it was expensive as fuck_!"

"Should've thought about that before you brought it with you." Coach smirked. Louisa looked ready to strangle him. Nico returned.

"Done." He declared. "Rules are- the first to ten points gets the sketchbook. You are not allowed to look into it if you find it; if you do, you're disqualified. Louisa is not allowed to take it back and stop the game early otherwise I'll steal it and show _everyone_." His eyes glittered mischievously. "You're not allowed to team up either or impair others from getting it, so that means no charmspeak, Piper. And no turning into animals, Frank."

"Especially snakes." Louisa muttered.

"Agreed?" Nico quirked a brow at them. They all nodded. He had to elbow Louisa to get her agreement, albeit reluctant. "Go!"


	13. Chapter 13

**To RandomFanAuthor- no, they never do! **

**To Guest- MORE IS HERE! **

**To JasonGraceIsDead- you may have to wait a little bit! It's subtle, very subtle! **

* * *

They were still playing find-the-sketchbook (also known as unveil-Louisa's-secrets) towards the end of hour six. Piper, Hazel and Coach were tying, all on nine points. Louisa was on eight points, Frank was on three. Mostly because getting in Piper's way was terrifying. She was _adamant_ there was something Leo-related in that sketchbook and she was determined to prove herself right, no matter how much Louisa denied it.

Nico was the first to realise the ship was slowing down. He waved to Piper, who stopped trying to trip Coach up. She noticed, disappearing up the stairs in a flash. Louisa snatched her sketchbook up from behind a barrel, marching it back to her room.

"You're on nine points!" Hazel called after her. "That should be mine!" She rounded on Nico. "She's cheating."

"She always cheats." Nico shrugged a shoulder.

Piper returned a few minutes later.

"Where's Lou?" She asked.

"Sulking. She'll be fine." Nico said.

"OK. Well, we're here. You can come up now." She stood to one side as Frank, Hazel and Coach filed past her. She could hear them talking to Jason, a job well done and all that. Louisa reappeared at the lack of noise below deck. Nico waved. Piper smiled at her. "We saw a raft- had a little machine on it, celestial bronze."

"Leo?" Louisa asked hopefully. Piper nodded. Louisa grinned and rushed past her. Nico followed, Piper falling in step beside him. The ship was coming into the dock. Louisa jumped the railings, water rising to meet her. She created a sloping wall of water to slide to the top of the city fortifications, hopping neatly into the open air café seconds later.

By the time the others caught up, Louisa had gone into the café, placing an order. Leo was sat at the table, holding his ribs and wincing.

"I forgot how hard she hugged." He half-smiled, half-grimaced. Jason stopped for a moment, thrown by Leo's outfit. It was identical to the one he wore the first day they arrived at Camp Half-Blood- jeans, a white shirt and an old army jacket. Except that jacket had burned up months ago.

Piper nearly knocked him out of his chair with a hug.

"Where have you been?" She demanded.

"Valdez!" Coach grinned. Then he seemed to remember his reputation and forced a scowl. "You disappear like that again, you little punk, I'll knock you into next month!" Leo smiled weakly, wiggling from Piper's squeeze. Frank patted him on the back, with a little more force than intended.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly, righting Leo. "Good to see you again, Valdez."

"You too, Zhang." They fist-bumped. Hazel was next, hugging Leo and kissing his cheek.

"We thought you were dead!" She chided. Leo mustered a faint smile.

"Nah, nah, I'm good." He looked round as Louisa came back, shoving a box of half a dozen chocolate muffins in his hands.

"Eat those." She ordered. She had another box, tossing it to Nico. "'N' _you_ eat those."

"What is it with you trying to fatten them up?" Frank asked bemusedly.

"Look at their noodle arms!" Louisa protested, plucking Leo's wrist, raising his hand and jiggling his arm. Leo smiled weakly. Jason moved to his side, looping an arm around his shoulders. He could tell Leo _wasn't_ good. Leo wouldn't quite meet their eyes, he wasn't fidgeting nervously, hadn't even cracked a stupid joke yet. All the nervous energy had drained from him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness.

"Idiot." He smiled, squeezing him in a one-armed hug. He didn't let go. Leo's expression was familiar- Jason had seen it on Nico, when he had faced Cupid.

Leo was heartsick.

They grabbed chairs from nearby tables, crowding around Leo. Jason and Louisa sat either side of him, Louisa threatening to shove a muffin down his throat if he didn't eat it _now_. Jason elbowed him. "Where'd you go?" Leo picked at his muffin, _not here, _his eyes said._ Not in front of everyone._

"I got marooned." He said. "Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?"

"_Piper_ happened!" Coach boomed proudly. "I'm telling you, this girl has _skills_!" Piper made to protest, but Coach began his retelling of the story. In his version, however, Piper was a kung-fu assassin and there were _loads_ more Boreads all ready to slice her and the rest of them into itty bitty demigod- or satyr- pieces.

Jason studied Leo as Coach talked. Leo must have seen the Argo sail in, he definitely should have seen Louisa slide over on her water wall. When he saw the rescue coming, Leo should have run down the docks, whooping at the top of his lungs. Instead, he had stayed at his table, drinking a coffee he didn't even _like,_ shoulders hunched as if trying to make himself as small as possible_. _Jason glanced over at Louisa. She was watching Leo too, worry laying creases at the corners of her eyes.

"And then she defeated Khione with a roundhouse kick and-"

"Coach," Piper interrupted gently, "it didn't happen like that _at all_. I couldn't have done _anything_ without Festus."

"But Festus was deactivated?" Leo puzzled.

"Yeah um… about that… I sort of woke him up." Piper explained the true story. Leo tapped his fingers on the table, thoughts whirring.

"Shouldn't be possible," he murmured, "unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he's permanently activated, that means the navigation system and the crystal…"

"Crystal?" Jason asked. Leo flinched.

"Um, nothing. Anyway, what happened after the wind bomb went off?" Hazel continued the story. A waitress came over and passed out menus. They were soon chowing down on sandwiches and sodas. Louisa ordered more muffins. Leo hadn't even finished his first. Nico was on his third, chewing with a little more gusto when Louisa glared at him. The next lot of muffins were handed around; despite this, Piper still tried to take the one in her hand.

"Fuck off, this one's mine."

"You picked the biggest one!"

"Of course I did, it's _mine_!" Louisa stuck her tongue out. Piper flailed her hand to get the muffin. Louisa wiggled away from her, crashing into Leo, defiantly licking the muffin. "I licked it, so it's mine."

"Give."

"Ah, can't charmspeak me now, Pipes. Oh, sorry, Valdez." She bit into the muffin, sitting back in her seat. Leo just smiled. His muffin was crumbs before him, but he scooped them into a little pyramid. Frank took a tourist brochure from beneath the napkin dispenser, reading as he ate. Piper reached past Louisa, squeezing Leo's hand. She kept hold of it, like she couldn't believe he was really here. Nico sat a little back from the group, starting on his fourth muffin. Louisa glanced around. With a flick of her hand, tendrils of water wrapped around his legs and the legs of his chair and dragged him forward, between Hazel and Frank. Nico glared at her, but she was distracted by Coach munching on the salt and pepper shakers.

"What?" He said.

"No, keep goin'." Louisa waved his question away. Coach eyed her warily, eventually shrugging and finishing off the shakers. Louisa grinned.

"Satyrs eat all kinds of weird things, Lou." Piper reminded her.

"I know, but it's cool."

"And then Jason harnessed the venti, and here we are." Hazel finished. Leo gave a low whistle, nodding, impressed.

"I knew you blew a lot of hot air, Jason, but- in the immortal words of Frank Zhang- _dang_." A ghost of a smirk played in his eyes. "You basically held a bunch of gas together all the way to Malta and then you let it loose?" Jason sighed.

"Yes, that sounds _super_ heroic. Thank you, Leo."

"Anytime." Leo sipped at his coffee. "Why Malta though? Like, why are we all here?"

"Probably some shit." Louisa muttered. Frank looked up from his brochure.

"Might be this- says here Malta was where Calypso lived." All the blood seemed to drain from Leo's face.

"W-what?"

"According to this," Frank lifted the brochure, "her original home was an island called Gozo, just north of here." He looked up at them. "She's some Greek myth thingie, right?"

"She's trapped on an island, dude." Louisa shook her head. "Uh, the gods imprisoned her 'cos of her dad. Um… Atlas? The grumpy dude that holds the sky up." Recognition crossed Frank's features and he nodded.

"Do we get to fight her?" Coach asked excitedly.

"No," Leo murmured, "no we don't have to fight her."

"Leo, what's wrong?" Piper's grip tightened on his hand. "You look-"

"Nothing's wrong!" Leo jumped to his feet, his hand springing from Piper's. "Hey, we should get going. We've got work to do!" Hazel started to speak, a question on her lips. "Ships to fix!" Leo continued determinedly. "Festus to check, earth goddesses to punch in the face!" He grinned round at them. "What are we waiting for? Leo's back! Let's go!" Jason and Louisa exchanged looks behind his back. They came to a silent agreement. _I got marooned_, he had said.

Jason stood, clapping Leo on the shoulder.

"Leo's right. We should get going." The others looked ready to question more. Louisa stood; one look from her and they began wrapping their food and finishing their drinks. Hazel gasped, a muffin falling from her hands.

"Look!" She pointed to the northeast horizon. At first, they didn't know what they were supposed to be looking at. They saw nothing but sea. Then a streak of darkness shot into the sky, as if pure night had condensed into a single bolt of black lightning.

"I don't see anything." Coach grumbled.

"Me neither." Piper agreed. Jason looked round. Other than Nico and Louisa, no one else could see it. Another bolt split the sky.

"That can't be…" Nico said quietly. "Greece is still hundreds of miles away." Darkness flashed again, momentarily bleaching colour from the horizon.

"You think it's Epirus?" Jason asked. Louisa scowled.

"The House of Hades is open for business." Nico said grimly. A few seconds later, a rumbling sound washed over them.

"It's begun." Hazel said.

"What has?" Leo asked. Louisa squeezed his arm reassuringly.

"Gaia's working the Doors overtime," Hazel replied, "her forces are entering the mortal world en masse."

"By the time we arrive, there'll be too many monsters to fight." Nico shook his head. Louisa frowned at him.

"Speak for yaself, cuz."

"We've got Leo back." Jason reminded them. "He'll give us the speed we need."

"And I won't be holding in a bunch of gas for miles either." Leo raised a brow at Jason, mischief flecking his eyes. Jason resisted the urge to strangle him, messing his hair instead. Leo managed a crooked grin, clapping his hands together. "Time to fly, boys and girls. Uncle Leo's still got a few tricks up his sleeves!" Louisa's expression deadpanned as she cut him a sidelong look.

"I can hardly contain my excitement."

"That's the spirit, Lou!"


	14. Chapter 14

**To RandomFanAuthor and Lightbringer2017- BOTH of you were screaming in the reviews, I love it! How I've missed being mean! ^_^**

* * *

"I SWEAR TO GODS, IF ONE MORE HARPY COMES AT ME-!"

"She's cheery!" Leo grinned. A swarm of feral harpies had descended upon them almost as soon as they hit Greek territory. Frank and Louisa, the resident archers, were taking them out, but for the last ten or so minutes, more just kept coming. Much to Louisa's chagrin. Leo was keeping an eye on them over his shoulder, mildly amused, but predominantly focused on steering.

The Greek landscape below was unwelcoming, the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees a hundred feet below. Hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Only Leo seemed to revel in the humidity.

"Hot and steamy!" He beamed. "Makes me homesick for Houston!" He glanced round, smiling at Hazel. "What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"

"Leo, if we get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters, _I will feed you to Arion_."

"That's sounds fair." Leo agreed, still smiling. Frank shot the last harpy.

"Yes, Zhang, that's how we do it!" Louisa held her hand up for a high five. Frank blinked. A second later, a broad grin crossed his features and he clapped his hand on Louisa's.

"There!" Nico called from above. Once again, he was perched atop the foremast. He pointed out a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometre away. "Take us that way, Leo. We're close to the temple. _Very_ close."

"Okey dokey!" Leo nodded. Black lightning ripped through the sky. They could all see it now.

Jason strapped on his sword belt, working his jaw.

"Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us as close as you can, but don't land. No more contact with the ground than necessary. Lou, the mooring ropes; Piper, Hazel, take watch. Frank, get below and find Coach." Frank nodded and disappeared downstairs. "Lou, the mooring."

"I know."

"Well…" Jason made shooing motions with his hand, shooting her a bewildered look when she sent them back. "You're annoying."

"I've been told. I'll do the moorin' when I feel like it, ain't no rush yet."

"Oh, you weren't there," Piper intervened, laying a hand on Jason's arm, "you should've seen Lou Spider-Manning around the ship while in Africa, it was pretty cool."

"I am pretty cool." Louisa said smugly.

"Pretty fatheaded." Hazel smiled. Louisa just shrugged, unabashed. Piper and Hazel went to port and starboard respectfully, beginning their watch. Louisa rocked back and forth on the soles of her feet, examining her watch. Leo was mumble-singing to himself, fiddling with the controls, flipping a lever, pushing a button, swinging a Wii remote. Louisa squinted at the back of his head, lightly drumming her fingers on her chin. She noticed Jason watching her and beckoned him over.

"Is he actin' weird to you?" She asked quietly.

"Weird how?"

"I dunno, like… calm-weird?" She grimaced. "I can't explain it, but he seems…" She motioned with her hands, seemingly wrangling an invisible fish. Well, that's how Jason interpreted it. She waved him aside when he continued to look blank. "Idiot."

She wasn't the only one who had noticed though. When Frank came back up, he sought out Hazel. Louisa had moored the ship over the river with a simple snap of her fingers- she was rather pleased with Jason's resulting expression, smirking victoriously- and then begun a last security sweep of her own.

"-acting weird?" She caught the tail end of Frank's question, hearing Hazel giggle softly.

"No, Frank, he's fine. He met someone."

"What? How? Where? How do you know?"

"I just do."

"But-"

"Ah, there you are!" That was Leo. "Pressie for you, Frankie!" Louisa turned away, deciding to check the aerial moorings anyway.

* * *

She returned when Piper called for them all from the bow. Frank had a small white drawstring pouch tied to his belt. Louisa was the last to the group, stopping beside Nico. He raised a brow at her, but said nothing. There were more pressing matters- they had found the source of the black lightning. A few hundred metres from where they hovered, at the top of the nearest hill, stood a cluster of ruins. They weren't much- some crumbling walls surrounding the limestone shells of a few buildings.

But from within those ruins, tendrils of black ether curled like thick smoke into the sky. A bolt of dark energy slashed through the sky, rocking the ship. It blasted a cold shockwave across the landscape.

"The Necromanteion." Nico said. "The House of Hades." Piper hugged her arms.

"I feel vulnerable up here. Can't we set down in the river?"

"I wouldn't." Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."

"I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld?" Jason asked.

"It is." Hazel nodded. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us will eventually flow underground, straight into the realm of Pluto- er, Hades." She corrected quickly. "Landing a demigod ship on those waters-"

"Yeah, I don't want any zombie water on my hull." Leo decided. "We stay up here. Sorry, Pipes." Piper made a face at him, but didn't argue. Louisa was leaning dangerously over the edge, so she once again grabbed the back of her shirt, sighing.

"Must you do that?"

"River Acheron, Piper, I wanna look."

"_Why_?"

"Um, it's the river of pain 'n' I do enjoy dishin' out pain." Louisa rolled her eyes. Nico tapped her on the shoulder and she huffed. "_Fine_." She stood, tugging her shirt from Piper's fingers. "But I'm gettin' some of it later."

"Why?"

"Why'd ya think, Grace?"

"Could you stop fantasising about killing Octavian for five minutes?"

"I can manage two. Ish. What's the plan then?" She asked, a slight uplift to her eyebrows as she considered Jason. "I can flood the place if ya want, deal with 'em all that way. Let them have some pain river."

"And what about Percy and Annabeth?" Jason reminded her. Louisa folded her arms, tipped her head to one side, eyes becoming distant.

"Mm, Percy ain't far." She considered the ruins over her shoulder. Another black bolt bleached the sky. The coldness it spread brought a brief respite from the heat, but it was not relieving. Nico raised the sceptre slightly, its orb glowing with purple light. Frank gestured to it uncertainly.

"So, um, Nico. Have you learned to use it yet?"

"We'll find out." Nico frowned at the tendrils of darkness rippling from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors are already working overtime; any more activity raising the dead and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."

"Bit of duct tape, it'll be fine." Louisa blew a raspberry. Other than a sidelong look, Nico ignored her.

"I hate rips in the world." Coach grumbled. "Let's go bust some monster heads."

"Um, Coach," Frank put a hand on his shoulder, "you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae." Coach frowned.

"Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!" Coach protested. Leo clamped a hand over Louisa's mouth without looking round.

"We might need air support." Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our _braccae_." They seemed to come to a silent agreement on something, Coach rather begrudgingly, even if his scowl lessened slightly.

"Well…" He grumbled, a tone that didn't hide the relief in his eyes. "I suppose _somebody's_ got to save your _braccae_."

"So that's settled." Jason said, clapping the satyr on the shoulder. "Coach stays here. Everyone else, we're heading to the ruins. Time to crash Gaia's party." Louisa sloppily licked Leo's palm and he recoiled.

"Cheesy one-liner, Jay."

"Shut up, Lou."

* * *

Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death, there were tourists climbing over the ruins. Piper had to disarm Louisa of throwing rocks at them, but the tourists hadn't noticed and hardly gave them a second look. "Why are you so violent?" Piper exasperated, holding Louisa by the hands as they walked, like a misbehaving child. Louisa simply shrugged, looking around at the ruins distractedly.

Nico led the way. At the top of the hill, they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Louisa wriggled free from Piper's grip and bounced to Nico's side, making rather totally-not-sneaky grabs for the sceptre. Nico deftly kept it from her, giving her as much attention as the tourists had.

They eventually found a stone doorway that led into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above their heads. Swirling tentacles of darkness dispersed from the storm.

Nico stopped, turning to face them.

"From here, it gets tough."

"Oh sweet," Leo grinned, "'Cos I've been pulling my punches so far." He shadow-boxed the air, oblivious to Nico glaring at him. Louisa swatted at him.

"We'll see how long your sense of humour lasts, Leo." Nico said. "This is where pilgrims came to talk to their dead ancestors, remember?" Leo hunched his shoulders. Nico rolled his eyes, looking around the group instead. "Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at. Or hear voices that will try to lead you astray into the tunnels. Frank? Do you have the barley cakes?"

"What?" Frank shook his head, wrenched from his thoughts.

"I've got the cakes." Hazel said, passing them out.

"What are these for again?" Leo asked.

"To protect us from the poison." Hazel replied patiently. Louisa took a bite of hers, recoiling and shaking her head as she chewed.

"Sawdust." She choked, squeezing her eyes shut. It took them all a moment to work their way through the barley, but they all seemed to agree with Louisa- these were more like sawdust than food.

"OK," Nico grimaced down the last of his barley, "just stick close together and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane." He glanced at Louisa. "Well, more insane."

"Aww, you do care!" Louisa beamed at him, squishing him in a one-armed hug. Nico's face read that he found this more unbearable than the barley, but he didn't protest.

"Let's go." He said. He led them underground, Louisa the first behind him. She was singing 'Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go' under her breath, but she couldn't recall the rest of the words, humming the tune instead. The tunnel spiralled gently downwards, the ceiling supported by white stone arches, like a giant rib cage.

Hazel ran her hand along the wall, frowning.

"This wasn't part of the temple," she informed quietly, "this was the basement for a manor house, built in later Greek times."

"A manor house?" Frank asked. "Please don't tell me we're in the wrong place."

"The House of Hades is below us." Nico assured. "But Hazel's right, these upper levels are newer. When the archaeologists first excavated this site, they thought they _had_ found the Necromanteion. Then they realised the ruins were too recent and decided it was the wrong spot." He shrugged. "They were right the first time, they just didn't dig deep enough."

"Typical mortals." Louisa remarked. She tapped her fist on the wall, twice. Nico reached back and knocked her hand down, shooting her a _behave_ look.

They turned a corner and stopped. Before them, the tunnel ended with a huge block of stone.

"A cave-in?" Jason asked.

"A test." Nico said. He looked to his sister. Hazel stepped forward, placing her hand on the rock. It crumbled to dust within seconds. The tunnel shuddered. Cracks spread across the ceiling. Louisa threw her hands up, a sheet of water appearing from thin air and launching upwards. It froze over the cracks, the rumbling stopped. The dust settled.

Leo tapped her on the shoulder, quizzically focused on the ice.

"What?" She said. Leo just shook his head. A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth. The barrelled ceiling held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. Painted on the walls were crude pictures of black cattle marching downwards.

"I really don't like cows." Piper muttered.

"Agreed." Frank said.

"Those are the cattle of Hades." Nico said. "It's just a symbol of-"

"Piper, why don't ya like cows?"

"Look." Frank pointed. On the first step of the stairwell, a golden chalice gleamed, full of a dark-green liquid.

"Ooh, yay." Leo said flatly. "Our poison. Yummy." Nico picked up the chalice.

"We're standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here and dozens of other heroes, all seeking advice from the dead." Louisa, standing behind him, gripped his shoulders, frowning at the chalice distastefully.

"Why's it green?"

"And more importantly, did the dead advise them to leave immediately?" Leo asked.

"I would be fine with that." Piper admitted. Nico drank from the chalice, Louisa hissing in his ear, and passed it to Jason.

"You asked me about trust," he said, "and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?" Louisa's fingers tightened on his shoulders. Jason took the chalice without hesitation and drank. They passed it around, each taking a sip of poison. Frank was last, draining the chalice. It turned to smoke in his hands.

Nico nodded, apparently satisfied. "Congratulations." He said. "Assuming the poison doesn't kill us, we should be able to find our way to the first level of the Necromanteion."

"Just the _first_ level?" Piper asked, voice a little higher than usual. Nico looked to Hazel and gestured at the stairs.

"After you, sister."


	15. Chapter 15

**To Guest- But she doesn't appreciate the teasing! ^_^ **

**To JasonGraceIsDead- You're really insistent on Leo tickling Lou, aren't you? I'm not making any promises and if you want more LeLou moments, you'll have to be patient I'm afraid! Sooooorrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy! :D **

**To RandomFanAuthor- Not far off the mark! :P**

* * *

The stairs split in three different directions. As soon as Hazel chose a path, the stairs split again. In no time, they were lost; winding through interconnecting tunnels, roughly-hewn burial chambers all completely identical. The walls were carved with dusty niches that Louisa threw rocks at and might have once held bodies. Piper didn't stop her throwing rocks this time, watching the niches distrustfully. The arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees and owls.

"I thought the owl was Minerva's symbol?" Jason asked quietly.

"The screech owl is one of Hades' sacred animals." Nico said. "Its cry is a bad omen."

"This way." Hazel pointed to a doorway, the same as all the others. "It's the only one that won't collapse on us."

"Tragic." Louisa muttered, scratching at her arm. She was watching another of the tunnels, somewhere off to the right. Nico held his hand out to her and she gripped it, without looking round. Frank wondered if she heard the voices too, voices whispering from the tunnels, beckoning him closer, to listen to them speak.

Finally, they reached an archway built of human skulls embedded in the rock. In the purple light of Diocletian's sceptre, the hollow eyes sockets seemed to blink.

"This is the entrance to the second level." Hazel told them. "I'd better take a look." She traced her fingers along the skulls. "No traps on the doorway, but… something is strange here. My underground sense is… it's fuzzy. Like someone is working against me."

"The sorceress that Hecate warned you about?" Jason guessed.

"The one I saw in my dream?" Leo added.

"What was her name?"

"It would be safer not to say her name. But stay alert." Hazel advised. "One thing I'm sure of: from this point on, the dead are stronger than the living." Louisa mumbled incoherently. Her free hand was clamped over her ear, her features set in a grimace. The voices in the darkness seemed to whisper louder. They were all looking around, gaze darting from one spot to the next. No one aired what they were seeing.

"Where are the monsters?" Frank asked. "I thought Gaia had an army guarding the Doors?"

"Don't know." Jason said. His pale skin looked as green as the poison from the chalice. "At this point, I'd almost prefer a straight-up fight." Louisa murmured in agreement.

"Careful what you wish for, man." Leo summoned a ball of fire to his hand, the shadows softening and lighting around them. Warmth trickled over them. "I'm personally hoping no-one's home. We walk in, find Percabeth, destroy the Doors and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop, see if they've got any bobble heads."

"Yeah," Frank said, "that'll happen." The tunnel shook. Rubble rained down from the ceiling. Hazel grabbed Frank's hand.

"These passageways won't take much more." She said.

"The Doors just opened again." Nico chipped in.

"It's happening every fifteen minutes." Piper noted.

"Every twelve." Nico corrected without an explanation. "We'd better hurry. Percy and Annabeth are close. They're in danger." He glanced at Louisa worriedly. She smiled weakly, sickly pale, her eyes lingering on a tunnel just to her right. Nico tugged on her hand and led them down. As they travelled deeper, the corridors widened. The ceilings rose to six metres high, elaborately decorated with owls in the branches of white poplar trees. The tunnels were riddled with blind corners, the size of the corridors could accommodate any kind of monsters.

Leo held his fire closer to the walls. Ancient Greek graffiti was scratched into the stone, seemingly prayers or supplications to the dead, scribed thousands of years ago. The floor was littered with ceramic shards and silver coins.

"Offerings?" Piper guessed.

"Yes." Nico nodded. "If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering."

"Let's not make an offering." Jason suggested. Louisa uncovered her ear, her fingers trembling over a line of graffiti. "You OK?" She hummed, thoughts elsewhere.

"The tunnel from here is unstable," Hazel warned, "the floor… just step _exactly_ where I step." She forged ahead. Frank was two steps behind her. The others filed behind them, taking extra care to copy Hazel's steps. Leo nearly crashed into Jason when he suddenly stopped. He began to protest, then realised Jason was trying to get Frank's attention.

"Frank!" He whispered. "Hazel, hold up a sec. Frank, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Frank mumbled, "I just-" He froze, head whipping round, eyes scanning everything and nothing frantically.

"Frank, don't move!" Hazel warned, alarm flooding her tone. Frank looked down, about to step out of line. Then he was looking back into the shadows.

"Lead where?" He asked.

"Uh, big guy?" Leo said. "Could you not freak out on us? Please and thank you."

"I'm… I'm OK," Frank stammered, "just… a voice…"

"I _did_ warn you." Nico reminded them. "It'll only get worse. We should-" He was cut off. Louisa had lunged from his hold. Leo, Jason and Piper all made a grab for her, but whatever had took her attention had her evade them like smoke. The floor cracked under her feet. Nico slipped into the shadows, materialising in front of her. "Come on." He took her hand again and they re-joined the group in a swirl of shadows. "Lou," he said firmly, squeezing her fingers painfully, "look at me."

"I saw-"

"I know."

"But-"

"I know, Lou, but we need you to focus. _Percy_ needs you to focus."

"R-right." She nodded, picking at her lip. Nico nodded to Hazel. Hazel told them to stay put. She disappeared into the tunnel ahead, Frank dithering worriedly on the spot. His lips moved soundlessly as he counted. Her face was drawn and pensive when she returned.

"Scary room ahead." She said. "Don't panic."

"Those two things don't go together." Leo muttered, but they followed her into the cavern. The next room was like a circular cathedral, with a ceiling so high it was lost in the gloom. Dozens of other tunnels splintered off in different directions, each echoing with ghostly whispers. The floor, oh gods the floor, was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems. Human femurs, hips bones and ribs fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The bones formed skeletal contortionists, curling protectively around the precious stones. A dance of death and riches.

"Touch nothing." Hazel said. Jason looked to the exits, biting his lip.

"Which way?" He asked. Nico glanced around uncertainly, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the back of Louisa's hand. She was staring resolutely at the floor.

"This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits." Nico said. "One of these tunnels leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades, but…"

"That one." Frank pointed.

"Why that one?" Hazel frowned.

"You don't see the ghost?"

"Ghost?" Nico raised a brow. Frank hesitated. The floor was vibrating under their feet.

"We need to get to that exit!"

"Wait!" Hazel almost had to tackle him to restrain him. "This floor isn't stable! Let me scout a safe path!"

"Hurry then." He urged. He drew his bow and herded her along as quickly as he dared. Leo scrambled after them, his fire flickering in his haste. The others brought up the rear, Louisa held her sword, glaring defiantly at everything.

The cavern reverberated with monstrous roars. Dozens, maybe hundreds of beasts coming from all directions. Throaty bellows of the Earthborn, the screech of gryphons, guttural cries of Cyclopes out for war.

"Hazel, don't stop!" Nico ordered. He held the sceptre ready. Piper and Jason drew their swords. Monsters began to spill into the cavern. A vanguard of six-armed Earthborn launched the first attack, a volley of stones that shattered the floor like ice. A fissure ruptured across the centre of the room, racing towards Leo and Hazel. Frank tackled them and they skidded across the cavern. They landed in the tunnel he had seen the ghost, rocks and spears flying overhead.

Louisa yelled angrily, throwing her hand out. A hurricane swept up shards of floor and rock, water freezing in the swirls. It shredded through half the Earthborn, scattering the rest.

"Lou, be careful!" Nico warned. The cavern shuddered, the hurricane dissipated. A fifteen-metre-wide chasm yawned a division in the cavern, spanned only by two rickety stretches of bone flooring. The bulk of monsters howled in frustration on the opposite side, throwing whatever they could find, even each other. Some attempted to cross the bridges, which creaked and cracked under their weight.

Jason, Piper, Nico and Louisa stood on the nearside of the chasm, but were surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and hellhounds. Monsters were pouring in by the dozens, gryphons wheeled overhead. The four demigods would never make it to their friends in the tunnel.

"We have to help them!" Hazel cried.

"Nico!" Frank yelled. "The sceptre!" Nico raised the staff. Louisa slashed at a Cyclopes they made a grab for him. Ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from the walls. An entire Roman legion in full armour. They took on physical forms, but when Jason yelled orders in Latin, they ignored him. They shuffled through the monsters, causing momentary confusion. Frank turned back to Hazel and Leo. "You two keep going."

"What? No!"

"You have to. Find the Doors, save Percy and Annabeth."

"But-" Leo's eyes snapped to something over Frank's shoulder. "Hit the deck!" Frank dived for cover. A wave of rocks slammed overhead. When he eventually struggled to his feet, coughing and coated with dust, the tunnel entrance was gone. An entire section of wall had collapsed, crumbled into a slope of smoking rubble.

"No!" He scrambled for the rubble. "Hazel…"


	16. Chapter 16

**To RandomFanAuthor- behold! **

**To JasonGraceIsDead- my lips are sealed! **

**To Guest- my lips are still sealed!**

* * *

"Frank!" Nico called. White hot anger blazed through Frank's chest. He turned, bunching his fists. The dead legionnaires were still milling about aimlessly, chest-bumping each other, pushing one another back into the chasm, shooting arrows at random and, occasionally, out of sheer luck, they would throw a javelin, a sword or an ally in the direction of the enemy. The army of monsters, however, had thickened, screaming with an unrivalled anger.

Well, almost unrivalled.

While the Earthborn tossed stones that ploughed into the legionnaires, while empousai chomped their fangs and shouted orders at the other monsters, while a dozen Cyclopes advanced on the crumbling bridges and seal-shaped humanoids- telkhines- lobbed vials of Greek fire over the chasm, while wild centaurs trampled smaller allies under hoof and fired flaming arrows… while _all this_ was going on, Louisa's temper was boiling over.

Her hurricane had returned, encircling her and her friends in whistling, icy blasts that tore at their hair and clothes. The floor continued to rumble, but not entirely from the impact of the monsters. She glanced over her shoulder as Frank approached, firing his last arrow at a gryphon. She faced forward, squaring her shoulders. She thrust her sword into the air, the blade sparking with sea green energy. Nico grabbed her arm, yelling a warning that was lost to her hurricane. Frank began to envision himself as a dragon, pain flaring through his arm. He looked down, astonished to find an arrow shaft protruding from his left biceps. His sleeve was soaked with blood. Louisa pointed her sword at the swell of monsters opposite them.

"Lou, don't!" Nico pulled on her arm, but it was no good. The blast of energy screamed across the chasm, turning everything green. Monsters in its path evaporated in an instant. It slammed into the wall, casting a spiderweb of cracks and breakages. Rocks tumbled down from various heights of the wall. The energy died down. The floor shook violently. Monsters surged into the gap her blast had filled, screeching in outrage.

Nico swung his sword, holding the sceptre aloft in his other hand. He shouted orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention. Jason and Piper stood at his back. Jason summoned gusts of wind to toss aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire into the throat of a gryphon. It burst into flames and disappeared into the pit. Piper made good use of her new sword, her cornucopia firing hams, chickens, apples and oranges as interceptor missiles.

Jason did his best to order the legionnaires to form ranks, but they ignored him too. Louisa broke from the protective hurricane, her entire body sparking with green energy. Her hurricane wilted around her friends. "Lou, no!" Nico yelled. "The floor's not stable!"

"Form ranks!" Jason tried again. The legionnaires continued to ignore him. Some of them were helpful simply by standing in the way, taking fire. But they couldn't keep getting mowed down- there wouldn't be enough left to organise.

"Make way!" Frank shouted, armed with a stolen sword. To his surprise, the dead legionnaires parted for him. The closest ones turned and stared at him expectantly. "Oh, great…"

"Louisa!" Piper cried. Louisa had tackled a Cyclops, crashing into a cluster of hellhounds. Half a dozen Cyclopes roared, turning on her with clubs raised. Jason blasted away more missiles, sweat beading on his forehead. Piper called out commands, encouraging the monsters to attack each other or dive into the chasm. Some of them obeyed, but the empousai were throwing out their orders too, apparently also armed with charmspeak.

"Stupid ghosts!" Nico shouted.

"They won't listen!" Jason agreed.

"Much like Lou!" Nico stabbed a hellhound, glaring over at his cousin. Louisa cackled, bouncing off a Cyclops' knee and kicking his club into his face. The Cyclops staggered. She slid between his legs and tripped him up, toppling him into the chasm.

"Cohorts!" Frank yelled. "Lock shields!" The zombie around him stirred. They lined up in front of Frank, their shields clashing together as they stood protectively in front of him. But they moved sluggishly, and only a handful had answered him.

"Frank!" Jason marvelled. "How did you do that?" Frank grimaced, his head swimming. His arm throbbed, blood dribbled down his arm.

"I'm the ranking Roman officer." He replied. "They, um, they don't recognise you. Sorry." Jason grimaced, but he wasn't overly surprised.

"How can we help?" He asked. Frank hesitated. A gryphon soared over his head. Nico smacked it with the sceptre and the monster crashed into a wall.

"Orbem formate!" Frank ordered. Two dozen zombies struggled to form a defensive ring around Frank and his friends. Except Louisa, she was throwing rocks and miniature hurricanes across the chasm, laughing every time a monster was crushed or whipped around like a rag doll. "Um…" Frank looked to Nico, brows raised, flicking his eyes to her.

"She's fine." Nico huffed. "She won't listen, but she's fine." She flung her hand upwards, shards of ice forming before her. She flicked her fingers and the ice seemingly disappeared, faster than they could blink. Monsters fell, clutching ice impaled in their throats or chest.

"Frank." Jason prompted. Their defensive circle wouldn't hold for long.

"My rank." Frank said.

"_All_ these monsters are rank!" Piper yelled, stabbing a wild centaur.

"No, I'm only a centurion." Jason cursed in Latin.

"He can't control an entire legion, he's not a high enough rank."

"Well, promote him!" Nico swung his sword at a gryphon. Jason nodded, looking Frank square in the eye. In his best drill-sergeant voice, he shouted:

"Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order! I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank! Take command of this legion!"

Louisa whooped and booted an Earthborn into the chasm. Around her, the zombie legionnaires formed shield lines. The archers in those ranks sent flaming arrows into enemy lines. She was distantly aware of Frank shouting, heard Nico laugh. The legion filed around her, advancing with spears and absorbing her into their ranks. The Earthborn threw rocks, the Cyclopes smashed the legion's shields with their fists and clubs. Louisa went with them, grinning; they fought with inhuman strength and she _loved _it. Together, they hacked monsters into nothingness, drove back the enemy advance on the friendly side of the chasm. A few legionnaires were caught in her hurricane, but she propelled them somewhere useful as best she could.

Before she knew it, they were done; their side of the chasm was covered in monster dust.

She turned in time to see Frank order Jason to fly legionnaires and himself over, beginning the assault over there.

"Lou, come on!" Frank beckoned to her. Louisa grinned and rushed back. "Nico, we need more zombies. Lou, we need a bridge, those won't hold." He pointed at the bone bridges. Piper was yelling insults at the empousai, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Louisa faced the chasm, her sword shrinking back into her watch. She held her hands out, pulling at something they couldn't see. Water fizzled in from unseen sources, compiling at her feet. In less than a minute, a bridge sloshed their path ahead. Frank led the charge over it, splashing as he ran. Louisa noticed the arrow in his arm and wondered if he knew it was there.

She held the bridge together until the legion had crossed. With a twist of a hand and a jump, she used the water to spring herself over the heads of her friends. The water trailed after her and she landed in a group of dracanae and centaurs. Her element exploded around her, sending dozens of enemy into the chasm. She saw Frank from the corner of her eye. He was glowing, shrouded in red light. Spears missed him, rocks deflected. He cut a Cyclops down, slashing from shoulder to waist. A second Cyclops backed up and he cut his legs out from under it.

Nico kept summoning more legionnaires. _Thousands_ of Romans had died over the history of the empire. Now they were back, answering the call of the sceptre. Frank took down a telkhine, an empousa raked her claws across his chest and he felt nothing. He sliced the demon into dust and kept moving.

Jason and Piper fought at his side, defiantly yelling. Nico swept through the last group of Earthborn, slashing them into mounds of wet clay. Frank led the legion, he was _Praetor_ Frank Zhang. His forces made quick work of the enemy, shattering every attempt of their regrouping. He saw Louisa, whisking through the other side in a hurricane five times bigger than before. She kicked, punched, stabbed, fought with her fists, her sword, water, flowing between attacks in hardly a second. An empousa jumped onto her back, claws at her throat. Louisa reached back, snatching at the she-demon's fiery hair. With a sharp yank, she wrenched the empousa over her shoulder. She lobbed the empousa straight into the path of an oncoming Cyclops and dived back into the fight, laughing loudly. She leapt and twisted, danced out of the way, weaved and dodged any flurry coming her way.

She was still raring to go when Piper stabbed the last empousa. Water encased her hand, angry scarlet burns criss-crossing her fingers and palm.

"Frank," Jason said, "you're on fire."

"On it." Louisa grinned. She flicked her other hand and water swirled around Frank, extinguishing him in seconds. "Dude, that was awesome! Can we go again?"

"No." Nico waved her down. "Frank, you've, uh… you've also got an arrow in your arm."

"I know." Frank snapped off the point of the arrow and pulled out the shaft by the tail. Water encased the wound. Piper offered him some ambrosia, grinning at him.

"You were amazing! Completely terrifying, but _amazing_!" Frank blinked at her, struggling to process her words. Louisa popped up, hand up for a high-five. Her burns were gone. Frank obliged her high-five, allowing himself a small smile. His adrenaline was draining, his arm throbbed dully. The water had stopped the bleeding. They had won. He had done it.

The only monsters left were his own undead Romans. They stood, trance-like, with their weapons lowered. Nico held up the sceptre, its orb dark and dormant.

"The dead won't stay much longer." He said.

"Legion!" Frank faced the troops. The zombie soldiers stood to attention. "You fought well. Now you may rest. Dismissed." They fell apart. Bones, armour, shields and weapons, all disintegrated. Frank sighed. The water fell away from his arm, Louisa's hand cold on his skin as she inspected the wound.

"Mm," she said, "ya gonna have a scar, but it's cool!"

"You," he said, planting a hand on her head, "fight like a legion on your own." She had always been small to Frank, but without her hurricane, she seemed even smaller. Percy had fought like a demon in the war games. Frank was ninety-nine percent sure Louisa _was_ a demon. How different twins could be…

"Aww, thanks! _Praetor Zhang_." She grinned.

"Yes," Nico frowned at her, "next time we're yelling 'Lou, no!' please listen, we don't want to be crushed in one of your _earthquakes_." He waggled his fingers, wrinkling his nose. Louisa hunched her shoulders.

"Ya'll need a lil' more faith in me, I ain't gonna let ya die. Not unless I'm killin' ya."

"That's nice, Lou." Piper deadpanned. "We love you too." Frank messed Louisa's hair and then looked back.

"Hazel and Leo," he said, "we need to find them."

"We can't go that way," Nico glowered at the pile of rubble, "maybe-" He staggered into Jason.

"Nico!" Piper gripped his arm. "What is it, are you OK?"

"The Doors." Nico rasped. "Something's happening… Percy and Annabeth. We need to go _now_."

"But how? The tunnel is _gone_." Jason looked to Frank. An idea was forming in his mind. Louisa held her hand out, palm facing upwards. Water weaved through her fingers, circling her palm. She frowned at it, a soft green glow emitting from inside the liquid.

"What are you doing?" Frank asked.

"Leo 'n' Hazel aren't far from Percy 'n' Annabeth." She announced, voice firm but distant. "But there's more people down there, two… they're…" Her brow furrowed. "Immortal." She finished carefully. She shook her hand, dispelling the water. "I know where they are." She looked up at Frank. "What'd ya wanna do?"

"Wwweeeeeeellllll…" Frank said carefully, "it won't be fun, but there's another way."


	17. Chapter 17

**To RandomFanAuthor- Glad to hear it, thank you! ^_^ **

**To Lightbringer2017- I enjoyed writing it WAY too much! O:)**

* * *

"This is weird."

"Yeah, I _might_ have mentioned that, Lou."

"Do ya even know where you're goin'?"

"No, but they do." Frank gestured ahead of him. The gesture was inherently useless as they were walking in pitch black darkness. By 'they', he also meant a handful of spirits of undead warriors. His son of Mars powers were definitely coming in handy today. He could see them, faint ghostly outlines, but the others couldn't. Nico was holding onto Frank's arm, his other hand kept Louisa from wandering off. Piper came after her and Jason brought up the rear. Even the glow of their weapons were swallowed in the darkness.

"We've been walkin' for, like, twelve years."

"Bold of you to assume you'll live another twelve years." Nico muttered.

"Honestly, if I'm still alive in twelve years, I've done somethin' _seriously_ wrong. Fuck, even _one_ year would be a fuckin' miracle."

"May I suggest you stop pissing people off?" Piper asked lightly. Louisa looked back at her voice, frowning incredulously. Except Piper couldn't see that.

"Bitch please, I have a specific skill set 'n' I'm fuckin' good at it."

"Yes, we've noticed." Jason chimed in.

The spirits stopped, turning to stare blankly at Frank.

"What is it?" He asked, stopping. Nico crashed into him, swearing in Italian. "Sorry. The spirits say we're to wait here until we're needed."

"Ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me."

"Scared of the dark, Lou?" Piper teased.

"_What_ was the _fuckin' point_ of walkin' down this fuck-ass corridor if we've gotta wait _here_? Why couldn't we wait somewhere less like fuckin' childhood trauma?"

"The spirits say we're going to be summoned."

"Oh, fan-fuckin'-tastic."

"Also, I think you need to see a therapist."

"Yeah, that'll be a good one. Me dad's the god of the sea 'n' I shouldn't've been born 'cos of a magically bindin' oath sworn on a river that can make ya invulnerable made just after World War Two, but 'cos he can't keep it in his fuckin' pants, here I am 'n' I have ta make sure a bunch of fuckwits don't kill themselves while tryin' ta save the immortal fuckwits who've done nothin' but give me _shit_ since I was born, like the time I had ta fight a tree or that Titan that tried ta drown me or the time I got eaten alive or when I had a dumbass of a brother with a magic connection no-one can really fuckin' explain 'n' he's currently trudging through the deepest, darkest, shittiest part of hell with his girlfriend, the daughter of a maiden goddess 'n' this is after said dumbass drank fuckin' _gorgon's_ _blood_ 'n' nearly drowned in a bog! Not to mention my adoptive mom's evil boyfriend, the son of the goddess who gave my cousin a mission to learn ta control a bit of magic fog ta beat my half-brother 'n' his giant turtle that eats people 'n' oars; said cousin was born in the nineteen-forties 'n' has already died 'n' was brought back by some bastard who needs to eat more after bein' trapped in a jar 'n' nearly starvin' ta fuckin' death 'n' bein' held captive by twin giants that had absolutely no dress sense 'n' have permanently scarred my brain with a baby blue leotard 'n' badly timed pirouettes who were killed by my immortal cousin with a fuckin' pinecone on a fuckin' stick. Uuuggggghhhhh, _FUCK MY LIFE_! Oh, hey, there's a door."

"Oh, thank gods." Piper breathed.

"Tell us how you really feel, Lou." Jason half-joked at the same time.

The doorway glowed faintly, like the spirits had, except they could all see it now. The spirits had disappeared at some point during Louisa's rant. Frank had so many questions, but didn't even dare think about them.

He led them through the doorway, sword at the ready. The first thing he saw were three forms, lying on the floor. Elation filtered through the group at the sight of Percy and Annabeth, but they weren't moving. Leo was seemingly debating if he wanted to get back into this mess, frowning at wherever the ceiling was. Hazel stood over them, looking thoroughly annoyed and absolutely gorgeous, considering she looked ready to severely maim someone with her spatha. Hecate, armed with her torches, stood to one side, watching. The others moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Frank and he took a breath, steeling his nerves.

"Ooh, shadow man." Louisa sighed. "I'm gonna get a T-shirt that says 'My life is a piss take'. Sounds pretty accurate."

"Can I get one?" Nico asked.

"No. Cool people only."

Shadow man- Clytius, was shrouded in a thin veil of black smoke. Golden ichor trickled from a wound on his right arm. His iron breastplate was peppered with holes, a few of which had precious gems wedged in.

"Sorry we're late." Jason said. "Is this the guy that needs killing?" Hazel smiled at them, white Mist swirling around her and whisking away Clytius's darkness.

They attacked from every angle. Leo blasted fire at the giant's scaly legs. Frank and Piper ducked around each other to jab repeatedly at his chest. Jason flew in and out, kicking him in the face. Louisa filled the chinks of his armour with arrows; some exploded, with ooze or fire; some cast out nets that temporarily ensnared his arms, but most were simple, very sharp arrows. She stood her ground, the energy of her element once again crackling around her. Sparks flitted to Percy, slowly at first, and then rushing him. He sat up, gasping, reaching for Annabeth.

Hazel stabbed at Clytius's back. Nico dashed past her, taking on the giant's smoky veil. His Stygian blade slashed through the creeping shadows, absorbing the darkness. Clytius turned back and forth, unsure who to kill first. _Wait! Hold still! _He protested. _No! Ouch!_

Satisfied her brother was re-energised, Louisa flicked her bow. It melted into her sword and she charged. Nico cut through the last of the darkness, leaving Clytius with no protection other than his battered armour. Golden ichor poured from multiple wounds, inflicted as fast they healed. Louisa ran low, he crouched to intercept. She bounced off his knee, planting one hand on his head and twisting. She ended up sat on his shoulders. Before he could protest, she slammed the point of her blade down. The giant fell to his knees, a sword through his neck. The demigods surrounded him. Hecate stepped forward, raising her torches. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin.

"And so it ends." The goddess said.

_It does not end_. Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and gurgling, slurred. _My brethren have risen. Gaia waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes_?

"Kick that bitch in the face." Louisa replied simply, resting her arm on the butt her sword. The blade drove further through, the giant retched. "Got anymore stupid questions?"

_Your time will come, daughter of Poseidon, you will suffer a thousand-_

"Oh, wow, tell me somethin' I don't know." She deadpanned. "You gon' burn, bitch." Louisa hopped neatly off his back, landing a few feet behind him. Hecate thrust her torches down at his head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry kindling, spreading down his head and across his body. He fell, soundlessly, face-first into the rubble of Hades' altar. His body crumbled to ashes, leaving Louisa's sword glowing red-hot in the mess.

"Not worried about that _your time will come_ thing?" Piper asked, shaking her head.

"It better came fuckin' soon, I've already lost the will ta live."

"Did you have it in the first place?"

"No."

"Much like her sanity."

"Fuck off, Nico, you're one ta talk."

"Demigods," Hecate cleared her throat, drawing their attention to her, "Hazel Levesque, you should go now. Lead your friends out of this place." Hazel glared at her, gritting her teeth.

"Just like that?" She demanded. "No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?" Gale the weasel chittered a warning, vanishing into the folds of her mistress's skirts.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude." Hecate said. "As for 'good work', that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong-"

"I hate my life."

"-the giants have risen- _all_ of them, stronger than ever-"

"Kill me now."

"-Gaia is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."

"_I_ was poorly named." Louisa decided. "I should've been called Fuckin' Doormat." Hecate considered her sidelong, brow furrowing. "What?" Louisa tipped her chin up. "I'll fight you too, come at me, bro. Oh wait." Her head snapped round, locating Percy and she beamed. "I fuckin' hate you!"

"I missed you too." Percy wheezed, smiling lopsidedly. The chamber rumbled.

"The House of Hades is unstable." Hecate warned. "Leave now. We shall meet again." She dissolved. The Mist evaporated.

"She's friendly." Percy grumbled. The others swarmed them. Jason bear-hugged Percy, Leo whooped and group-hugged them, Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried. Frank checked on Hazel first, gently folding his arms around her.

"You're hurt."

"Ribs probably broken." She admitted. "But, what happened to your arm?"

"Long story." He smiled. "We're alive, that's what matters." Hazel allowed herself a small, tired smile. So relieved, it took a moment for her to notice Nico, standing by himself, his expression full of pain and conflict.

"Hey." She called to him, beckoning him over. He hesitated, shuffling over and kissing her forehead.

"I'm glad you're OK." He said. "The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You… you would have made Dad proud."

"Ya've made _me_ proud," Louisa grinned, throwing an arm around Hazel, "'n' that's_ way_ better than Lord Gloomy. What's this about broken ribs though?"

"Later," Hazel insisted, "we have to get out of here." The ceiling shuddered, cracks appeared in the remaining tiles. Columns of dust spilled down.

"Mm," Louisa made a face, "ya sure? Quite cosy down here."

"Lou…" Hazel warned. "You can death wish later, we have to go."

"Ugh, fine. Two secs." She disappeared. Jason, Leo and Piper had moved away from Percy and Annabeth. Louisa marched over, smacked them both upside the head. "_What did I say about shit like this_?" She demanded. Percy smiled weakly. Annabeth glared, but didn't have the energy to hit her back. "As soon as you two stop lookin' like Walkin' Dead extras, I'm gonna fuckin' drag ya asses ta Hades 'n' ask him ta keep ya there until I can be bothered ta deal with ya shit."

"Which would be when, Lou?"

"I'm still figurin' that out. Asshole."

"Bitch." Percy retorted. They fist-bumped, Percy wobbled. Louisa gripped his arm and he leaned on her for support. "Now what?" He asked, coughing.

"We'll have to shadow travel." Hazel decided. Nico winced.

"Hazel, I can barely manage myself… with eight more people…"

"I'll help you." Hazel assured. An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.

"Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled. They made a hasty circle. The cavern collapsed, shadows engulfed them.


	18. Chapter 18

**To Guest- YES IT IS! **

**To JasonGraceIsDead- That does sound very Lou-esque and I _can_ see Leo trying to tickle her, but not yet! If you need a LeLou-fix, why don't you try Of Wings and Marks? It's mostly centred on their daughter in an AU I've got, but there's a few LeLou moments in there! (Andthey'remarried!) **

**To RandomFanAuthor- that review has LITERALLY made my day, thank you so much! I hope I can continue and finish the series to your expectations, thank you! ^_^**

* * *

They appeared on the hillside, overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was rising, casting glitter over the water and making the clouds glow a soft orange. The morning air was cool and floating with a honeysuckle scent. Percy stood between Louisa and Nico, taking in a deep breath before he opened his eyes. A lump formed in his throat, his eyes stung. They had made it. But Bob. Damasen. Small Bob…

Nico let go of his hand. Louisa grabbed him by the front of the shirt, shaking him as she swore. "If-you-ever-do-_anythin'-_like-that-again," she said with each shake, "I-will-rip-out-your-fuckin'-spine-and-beat-the-shit-out-of-you-with-it." Words failed Percy; he only managed a smile. She looked ready to throw him into the River Acheron. Annabeth coughing behind her distracted her. She whirled round and caught Annabeth in a headlock. "Same applies ta you, Blondie! _I will kill you both_!"

"It's good to see you too, Lou." Annabeth wheezed.

The ship hovered over the river a few hundred yards away. They sprawled on the grass. Jason was holding his head and groaning- _I don't like shadow travel-_ Leo seemed to share his sentiments, holding his stomach. Louisa sat quietly while the others began to exchange stories, passing her hand over Percy's injuries and coating his skin in a fine layer of cool water. A little colour was coming back to his cheeks and he listened intently to Frank explain what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters, how Nico had used the sceptre and how bravely Jason and Piper had fought.

"Pretty sure your sister is a demon." He told Percy.

"I am." Louisa confirmed.

"She is." Percy said at the same time.

"Frank is being modest," Jason said, "_he_ controlled the entire legion. You should've seen him." He glanced at Percy. "I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling?"

"No argument here." Percy grinned. "Way to go, Frank!"

"Lots of argument here," Louisa muttered, "you 'n' Annabeth are _grounded_."

"You _are_ lots of argument."

"Damn straight, bitch!"

"_Praetor_?" Hazel stared at Frank, gobsmacked. Frank hunched his shoulders, uncomfortable with the attention.

"Well… yeah. I know it seems weird." Hazel made to hug him, wincing as she recalled her busted ribs. Louisa glared at her, so she settled for giving Frank a kiss.

"It seems _perfect_." She smiled. Louisa began healing Annabeth. Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder, beaming.

"Nice work, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."

"Tempting." Frank agreed, startling when Louisa's head snapped up.

"Don't do that, _I _wanna kill him!"

"Ssh," Percy pressed his hand to her cheek, pushing her head away, "no murder." She tried biting his fingers instead.

"You guys," Frank looked at Percy and Annabeth apprehensively, "Tartarus has to be the _real_ story. What happened down there? How did you…?" Percy reached across his sister, grasping Annabeth's hand. Hazel looked over to Nico, saw the pain in his eyes. Percy and Annabeth had been so lucky to have each other. Nico had gone through Tartarus _alone_.

"We'll tell you the story," Percy promised, "but not yet, OK? I'm not ready to remember that place."

"Good." Louisa said. "'Cos if I've gotta put up with anymore arai or empousai bites or poison or whatever the fuck was goin' on down there, I'm gonna melt ya fingers together." Percy winced. Annabeth gazed towards the river.

"Uh, I think our ride is coming." The Argo II veered to port, its aerial oars in motion. The sails caught the wind, Festus's head gleamed in the sunlight. Even from a distance, they could hear him creaking and clanking with glee.

"That's my boy!" Leo yelled, laughing. As the ship drew closer, they could see Coach standing at the prow.

"About time!" He bellowed. He was doing his best to scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just a tiny bit maybe, he was happy to see them. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"

"Visitor?" Hazel repeated.

At the rail next to Coach, a dark-haired girl appeared, wearing a purple cloak. Her face was covered with soot and bloody scratches, her expression grim. Louisa gasped excitedly, the first on her feet.

"Rey-Rey!"

* * *

While Leo lowered the statue onto the hilltop with his new mechanical hoist system- something he was very proud of- Louisa had her work cut out for her. Hazel's ribs were a little trickier and Hazel didn't look overly happy with her for poking and prodding. "This is for your own good," Louisa told her, "I mean, what kinda idiot fights a giant on their own?"

"You fought a Titan."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"When you were _nine_."

"I am my own brand of stupid. Don't you dare copy me."

She cleaned and healed Reyna's face too. Her armour had been carted off by Buford the Wonder table for repairs, leaving Reyna in a purple camp shirt and jeans, her dark hair braided over her shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she was now resolute, jaw set. Soon after she had landed on the Argo, her pegasus, Scipio had collapsed from poisoned injuries obtained the night before. Reyna had to put him down, using the golden knife at her belt to turn him into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. "I'm sorry I didn't get back sooner, Rey. Maybe I could've helped him."

"I appreciate the thought, Lou, but he… he was badly injured. I don't think even you-" Her voice cracked, her bottom lip trembled. She tucked her head down. Louisa pressed her fingertips to her forehead, healing the last cut there. With a flick of her fingers, the water swept over Reyna's face, clearing away the last of blood and dirt.

"We'll set up somethin' nice for him." She promised. Reyna nodded, sniffing. "You wanna come 'n' groin-kick Percy with me?"

They walked down to the hilltop together. Percy was staring up at the Athena Parthenos like he expected it strike him down. The statue gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

"Incredible." Reyna admitted. She circled the statue warily. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo said, "we brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex." He shrugged. Piper called him over, holding up a plate of sandwiches. The ship hung just overhead; Festus was keeping watch, so the crew decided to have lunch on the hillside and discuss their next move. Percy went and sat next to Annabeth. Louisa hung by Reyna, pulling faces at the statue.

"You never change, do you?"

"You ain't the first person ta ask me that."

"Why is Piper staring at us?" Louisa looked down. Piper sat between Jason and Hazel, smirking as her gaze darted from Louisa to Reyna and back again. When she realised both girls were looking at her, she beamed and waggled her fingers in greeting. Louisa brought her hand up, pushing her forearm out and sticking her middle finger up. Reyna shook her head, the light of a smile softening her eyes.

"Are you two coming over or what?" Annabeth called. Louisa looked at Reyna expectantly.

"Don't be a Nico." She said.

"I heard that!" Nico fumed. Louisa smiled innocently. Reyna rolled her eyes and moved to join the group. Louisa fell in step alongside her, ruffling Nico's hair as she passed. The group scooted to make room for them. Reyna sat cross-legged next to Annabeth. Louisa sat on her other side, elbowing Leo next to her. He elbowed back and passed Reyna the plate. She picked up a cheese sandwich, nibbling at the edge.

"So," Reyna said, letting her eyes travel across the group, "Frank Zhang," she focused on him, "praetor." Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin.

"Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion." Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts." Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. Louisa was glad to see she sat comfortably, undisturbed by her newly-mended ribs.

"Reyna," Jason said, "you should've seen him."

"He was _amazing_." Piper agreed.

"Frank is a leader." Hazel insisted. "He makes a great praetor."

"'N' he got the blessin' of Mars while fightin'," Louisa chipped in, shadow boxing the air as she told Reyna of Frank's bravery, maybe embellishing the truth a little, "'n' then he was like 'wa-cha!' 'n' kicked the hellhound in the nose!"

"That… didn't happen, Lou, but… thanks." Frank smiled weakly.

"Shut up, dude, I'm tryna get ya a job."

"I believe you." Reyna said. "Not you, Louisa, you've always been full of shit."

"Hey!"

"But you," Reyna looked to the rest, "I approve." Frank blinked.

"You do?"

"A son of Mars," Reyna smiled dryly, "the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion… I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."

"Anyone that don't like it is gonna get their teeth kicked in." Louisa vowed.

"Thanks, Lou, but please… don't." Frank waved down her suggestion, doing his best to look grateful.

"Ugh, funsponge. What about-?"

"No, no eye gouging either." Reyna shushed her. Louisa, miraculously, stayed quiet. Piper gaped at Reyna and she wasn't the only one. Reyna didn't seem to notice. "Whatever the weather, I don't think the legion will listen to me now. I broke the laws, coming to the ancient lands."

"Caesar broke the law crossing the Rubicon." Frank reminded her. "Great leaders have to think outside the box."

"I'm not like Caesar." Reyna said, shoulders tense. "I found Jason's note and tracked you down. I did what I thought was necessary."

"You're too modest." Percy said. "Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea because you knew it was our best chance of peace? That's pretty freaking heroic."

"Says the demigod that fell into Tartarus and found his way back."

"He had help." Annabeth smiled.

"Oh, obviously. Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."

"True."

"Hey!"

"Bro, it's true, ya suck."

"Oh, fight me."

"Will you two behave?" Annabeth sighed. "I don't have the energy for your twin nonsense."

"Neither do I." Percy admitted. Louisa squinted at him. The group laughed. Percy sat back a little, looking up at the statue. His smile dimmed, his eyes darkened. Louisa felt his guilt building in her chest and threw her crusts at him. Next to her, Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver from his belt, stabbing a chocolate-covered strawberry and passing it to Coach Hedge. He did this again for himself.

"So," he said, "the twenty-million peso question- we've got a slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?"

"Ya got a sharpie?"

"You are _not_ drawing on my mother's face."

"Just a monocle!"

"No!"

"As fine as it looks on the hill," Reyna said, nudging Louisa into silence, "I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader?" Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"I had a dream in, you know… Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill and Athena's voice said _I must stand here. The Roman must bring me_." Percy studied the statue uneasily. His relationship with the goddess was… rocky, to say the least. He half-expected the statue to come alive and squish him underfoot.

"It makes sense." Nico said, startling Percy from his thoughts. He was picking at half a pomegranate. Louisa glowered at him and he picked up a sandwich, taking a hasty bite. "The statue is a powerful symbol," Nico said around his mouthful, "a Roman returning it to the Greeks… it could heal the rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities."

"More than usual split personalities." Louisa muttered.

"Now hold on," Coach swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver, "I like peace as much as the next satyr-" Leo scoffed disbelievingly, "but we're only, what, a few days from Athens? We've got an army of giants waiting for us there. Chase went to all the trouble of saving the statue, because the prophecy called it the _giants' bane_." He looked around, munching on the last of the screwdriver. "So why aren't we taking it to Athens? It's obviously our secret weapon." Louisa pointed at herself indignantly. "You got stabbed, stay out of this."

"You got _stabbed_?" Reyna rounded on Louisa, brow furrowing.

"Uh," Louisa replied brilliantly, "no?" She half-winced, half-smiled sheepishly, shoulders hunching. Reyna fumed. "Oh, what'd ya expect? Loads of people wanna stab me, myself included!"

"Add me to that list." Reyna muttered. Louisa stared at her, dumbfounded. Reyna looked to Annabeth. "What happened?" Annabeth gave her a quick rundown. Louisa kept shaking her head as she spoke, cutting her hand across her throat and glaring warningly. None of this shut Annabeth up and Louisa put her head in her hands when she was done. "We are having words later." Reyna told her sternly.

"Just stab me again, it'll be less painful."

"Um, hello?" Coach waved. "No-one's answered my question. Why not take the statue to Athens?"

"A lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaia rising at Camp Half-Blood." Piper said, tearing her gaze away from Reyna and Louisa. She drew Katoptris and set it on her plate. It showed nothing but a reflection of the sky, but that didn't stop Louisa throwing half a sandwich at it. "Since we've got back to the ship," Piper continued, wiping bread crumbs from the blade, "I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves-"

"Octavian." Reyna growled. "I _told_ him to wait."

"'N' I told _you_ ta let me kill him, but _noooo_."

"You shush, you've done nothing but give me a headache since we met."

"Awww, Rey-Rey, ya noticed!" Louisa leant her head on Reyna's shoulder, grinning slyly. "Ya love me."

"I do not."

"Denial's not a good look for ya, Rey."

"No look is a good look for you."

"Well, damn." Louisa sat up, pouting.

"When we take over command," Frank cut in, "our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible."

"Agreed," Reyna nodded, clamping a hand over Louisa's mouth, "but for now-"

"He's intent on war." Annabeth sighed. "He'll have it, unless we stop him." Piper turned the blade of her knife.

"Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future- the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaia…" Her voice failed her. An uneasy silence fell over them. Louisa's glower wilted, Reyna lowered her hand.

"So, Reyna takes the statue." Percy eventually said. "And we continue on to Athens."

"Cool with me." Leo shrugged. "But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got, what, two weeks until the Roman feast day when Gaia is supposed to wake up?"

"The Feast of Spes." Jason said. "That's on the first of August. Today is-"

"July eighteenth." Frank offered. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days." Hazel winced.

"It took us _eighteen _days to get from Rome to here- a trip that should've only taken two or three days, max."

"So, given our usual luck," Leo said, "and, you know, accounting for any Louisa-shenanigans-"

"I'll gut you."

"-_maybe_ we'll have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants and stop them from waking Gaia. _Maybe_. But how's Reyna supposed to get this big-ass statue back to Long Island?"

"What about the Labyrinth?" Hazel suggested.

"No!" Percy and Annabeth exclaimed, making her jump. "Sorry, Hazel," Percy's expression softened, "not to shoot you down or anything, but it's just…" He struggled to find the right words, grimacing. "For one thing, the passages in the Labyrinth would be too small for the Athena Parthenos. There's no chance you could take it down there-"

"And even if the maze _is_ reopening," Annabeth continued, "we don't know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus' control, and he wasn't evil. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted…" She shook her head. "Hazel, _maybe_ your underground senses could guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you here. Besides, if you got lost down there-"

"I heard there's a big fuck-off snake down there," Louisa blanched, "you ain't gettin' me down there, hell no."

"Oh." Hazel said glumly. "Nevermind."

"Other ideas?" Reyna asked.

"I could go." Frank offered, not particularly happy with the thought. "If I'm a praetor now, I _should_ go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled or-"

"No, Frank." Reyna gave him a weary smile. "I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now, your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy."

"I'm not." Nico said. Everybody stopped eating, staring at him. Hazel set down her fork.

"Nico-"

"I'll go with Reyna. I can transport the statue with shadow travel."

"Like fuck you will!"

"What she means," Percy interjected, "is that, yes, you did get all of us to the surface, and that was awesome. But a year ago, you said transporting _yourself_ was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times, you ended up in China-"

"There is no _fuckin'_ way I'm gonna let you shadow travel a forty-foot statue 'n' two people halfway across the fuckin' world!" Louisa fumed. Nico glared at her.

"I've changed since I came back from Tartarus."

"That does _not_ mean ya ain't gonna kill yaself in the process, di Angelo!"

"Nico," Jason intervened, "we're not questioning your powers-"

"Yes we fuckin' are!"

"But, like Lou said, we just want to make sure you don't… die trying."

"I can do it." Nico insisted. "I'll make short jumps, a few hundred miles each time. It's true," he continued under Louisa's murderous look, "after each jump, I won't be in any shape to fend off monsters. I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue." He looked to Reyna. She studied the group, scanning their faces, betraying no thoughts of her own.

"Any objections?" She asked. Louisa spluttered and swore in a string of languages.

"I'm goin' too." She decided. "There's gonna be a fuck-ton of monsters 'n' ya'll need a third person."

"I think Coach should go." Frank blurted. Louisa stared at him, stunned and contemplating homicide. "Coach is the best choice," Frank continued, looking at anyone but her, "he's a good fighter. He's a certified protector," he added as Louisa began to protest again, "he'll get the job done."

"A faun." Reyna said.

"Satyr!" Coach barked indignantly. "And yeah, I'll go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you'll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call- er, I mean get my baseball bat." He got up and shot Frank an unspoken message. Despite the fact he had signed up for a potentially suicide mission, he looked _grateful_. He jogged off towards the ship's ladder, tapping his hooves together like an excited kid.

Reyna looked to Louisa.

"As much as I would trust you at my side, Louisa, you're needed here."

"But-"

"The statue will draw enough attention. Two Big Three kids would be pushing our luck." Reyna's expression softened a fraction. "Besides, you can help Jason and Percy get Frank up to speed on praetorship. You certainly are testing." Louisa's sour look dwindled slightly as she gave a soft, grumpy laugh.

"I am, ain't I?"

"Extremely." Reyna agreed. "Frank, I have spent _years_ trying to figure Louisa out and get her to adhere to the rules. She'll give you excellent practise in learning those rules and how many different ways one demigod can break them."

"That sounds… fun." Frank winced. Louisa smirked at him. Nico rose, brushing his hands.

"I should go and rest before we leave then." Louisa hopped up, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"We're gonna have a little chat first. No way out of it!" She declared, marching him back to the ship and ignoring his grumbles. Piper pointed at Reyna.

"I have so many questions."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "like, out of all of us, Lou only really listened to Piper-"

"And even then, I couldn't get her to _behave_!" Piper squinted at Reyna suspiciously. "_How_ did you get Lou to be quiet _and_ change her mind about going with you and Nico? _Tell me your secrets_!" Reyna smiled thinly, shrugging a shoulder. She could almost see the steam coming out of Piper's ears. "I _will_ get to the bottom of this," she grumbled, "_especially_ if you're leaving her with us."


	19. Chapter 19

**To JasonGraceIsDead- :D **

**To Guest- in a way, she is! But endearingly so? I've always imagined her as that 'in my defence, I was left unsupervised' quote personified.**

**To RandomFanAuthor- I mentioned it earlier in the story (or one of them) that Lou knew about and went to Camp Jupiter, but I've not overly expanded on it as of yet. There's a bit more in the Blood of Olympus rewrite, and I'm partially working on the full story for it, but I've only done a few chapters. Lou is also a bi disaster, she knows she likes Reyna, but doesn't realise she likes Leo, she and Piper talked about it (I think in my MoA rewrite?) Hope this helps! ^_^**

**Speaking of bi disaster, I love this chapter- _DILEMMA._**

* * *

Nico was getting ready with the statue. He had acquired a length of rope and was walking it around the pedestal of the Athena Parthenos. He saw movement in the corner of his eye and glanced round.

"Thank you." Percy said.

"For what?" Nico frowned.

"You promised to lead the others to the House of Hades." Percy replied, restlessly toying with his hands. "You did it." Nico tied the ends of the ropes together, making a halter.

"You got me out of that bronze jar in Rome. Saved my life yet again. Least I could do." He squinted up at the statue. "Besides, I couldn't leave it to Lou." He said it like a joke, but his voice was steely and guarded. Percy wished he could figure Nico out, what made him tick. But he was not the same geeky kid from Westover Hall with an abundance of Mythomagic cards. Nor was he was the angry loner who had followed the ghost of Minos through the Labyrinth. So who was he?

"Also," Percy continued uncertainly, "you visited Bob…" He told Nico about the trip through Tartarus. Nico didn't look at him as he spoke, shoulders tensed. "You convinced Bob that I could be trusted, even though _I_ never visited him. I never gave him a second thought. You probably saved our lives by being nice to him."

"Yeah, well…" Nico looked off to his right, eyes glittering dangerously. "Not giving people a second thought… that can be dangerous."

"Dude, I'm trying to say thank you."

"I'm trying to say you don't need to. Now I need to finish this, if you could give me some space." Percy nodded, stepping back while Nico took up the slack on his ropes. He slipped them over his shoulders as if the statue were a giant backpack. Percy tried not to feel hurt, effectively being told to clear off. But he understood. Nico had faced Tartarus alone. Percy understood first-hand how much strength that had taken.

Someone slipped their hand into Percy's. He looked round and Annabeth smiled at him.

"Good luck." She told Nico.

"Yeah." Nico said, not meeting her eyes. "You too."

A minute later, Reyna, Louisa and Coach Hedge arrived. Reyna and Coach were in full armour with packs over their shoulder. Reyna looked grim and ready to fight. Coach grinned like he was expecting a surprise party. Louisa appeared to be sulking.

Reyna looked to Annabeth.

"We will succeed." She promised, giving the blonde a one-armed hug.

"I know you will." Annabeth smiled. Past them, Louisa had picked Nico up in one of her infamous bear-hugs. He squirmed and wheezed protests, gasping when she eventually set him down.

"Don't make me come 'n' find ya, cuz." She warned, messing his hair. Nico rubbed at his ribs, pretty sure a few had been crushed out of alignment. "You'll be OK." She assured. "Don't do anythin' I would do 'n' ya'll be fine."

"You're going to have to narrow it down a bit more, Lou." Nico retorted lightly.

"Nah." She looked to Coach. "Make sure this dick eats, OK?"

"Yes ma'am." Coach nodded once, shouldering his bat. "Don't worry about a thing! I'm going to get to camp and see my baby! Uh, I mean I'm going to get this baby to camp!" He patted the leg of the Athena Parthenos. Louisa rolled her eyes and turned, coming face to face with Reyna.

"Can I trust you to behave?"

"Fuck no."

"I thought as much." Reyna sighed, smiling. "Try not to get stabbed this time, OK?" Reyna pulled her into a hug. Despite the armour, she could feel Louisa trying to bear-hug her too. "I'll keep an eye on Nico," Reyna promised under her breath, "but he's right, you _do_ have to narrow it down, like, _a lot_ more." Louisa snorted.

"We'll figure it out later." She shrugged. "Be careful, Rey-Rey. 'N' don't kill Octavian without me."

"You know I'd never dream of it."

"Good." Louisa drew back, absent-mindedly checking the straps of Reyna's armour. Perfect, as always. "I'll hold ya ta that." She warned playfully. Reyna smiled, holding up her hand, little finger out. Louisa grinned, and they pinkie-promised, pressing their thumbs together to lock it.

"Alright," Nico said, "grab the ropes please." Reyna studied Louisa's face carefully. Coach moved to Nico's side, twisting a loop of rope around his wrist.

"Don't give Frank too much grief." She said, touching Louisa's cheek.

"What 'bout Jason?"

"All the grief you want." Reyna smiled. Louisa grinned wickedly. Reyna gently held her chin, conscious of everyone watching, but she might not get this chance again. She kissed Louisa and then hugged her once more. "I'm going to miss you, Lou." Louisa's hands came up, resting on Reyna's back for a brief moment and then she was gone. Reyna looped her hand in the rope and smiled. Louisa was staring at her, bright-red and lost for words. A thousand questions clamoured in her eyes, but Reyna knew her well enough; she could see they were wishing for the same thing- a bit more time.

"Uh, OK." Nico said, mind reeling. "Let's go." The air darkened. The Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow and disappeared, along with its three escorts.

Annabeth watched the space they had disappeared for a moment, sending up a silent prayer. Percy nudged her and she looked to Louisa.

"I think she's broken." He said, holding back laughter. Annabeth felt a smile tug at her cheeks. Louisa pressed her fingers to her mouth, realisation dawning on her. "There it is." Percy snickered. "Lou?" He called softly, his tone almost as if he were talking to a three year old. "You OK?"

"No." Louisa croaked. Annabeth pushed Percy in the back, but he was moving anyway. He wrapped his arms around his sister, resting his chin on her head. He rubbed soothing circles into her back, but could feel her overwhelment.

"I think her brain's melting." He hissed back to Annabeth.

"I'll get Piper." Annabeth laughed. "But she's _so_ your sister."

* * *

The Argo II set sail after nightfall. Piper had managed to coax some words out of Louisa, solidifying her brain a little, but was now stationed at her side. She thought it was most amusing.

"Is Lou OK?" Leo asked. "She's not sworn at me for, like, an hour now."

"She's having an existential crisis," Piper said, "try again later."

"Uh, OK?"

The ship veered southwest until they reached the coast, then splashed down in the Ionian Sea. Percy seemed to come alive with the waves beneath him again, Louisa was gradually coming out of her stupor. The trip to Athens would have been considerably shorter over land, but with the crew's experience with mountain gods in Italy, they decided they would avoid land as much as they could. The plan was to sail around the Greek mainland and follow the routes Greek heroes had taken in ancient times.

Percy stood at the starboard rail, closing his eyes as the fresh sea air filled his lungs and revelled in the salty spray on his arms. He could sense the currents beneath them, renewed vigour humming through him. But all he could see was Tartarus. The River Phelgethon, the blistered ground where monsters regenerated. The dark forest where the arai screeched overhead in blood-mist clouds.

But most of all, he thought of a hut in the swamp with a warm fire and racks of drying herbs and drakon jerky. Was that hut empty now?

Warmth pressed into his side, a hand curling into the crook of his arm. He opened his eyes, pressed a kiss to Annabeth's temple.

"I know." She said quietly. "We have to make their sacrifice worth it. We have to beat Gaia." Percy looked up the night sky. He wished they were looking at it from the beach on Long Island. Not half the world away, sailing towards almost certain death.

Leo whistled happily behind them, over in the bow. He was tinkering with Festus's mechanical brain, occasionally muttering something about an astrolabe and a crystal. Amidships, Piper had bribed Louisa into swordplay with her and Hazel, the ringing of their blades echoing through the night. Jason and Frank stood at the helm, talking in low tones. Frank wrung his hands and Jason patted his arm, smiling reassuringly.

As they sailed further from the coast, the sky darkened. More stars came out. Percy wiped at his face, studied the constellations Annabeth had taught him about years ago.

"Bob says hello."

* * *

**And done! Blood of Olympus rewrite as of tomorrow! **


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